Autum/Winter London Fashion Week key trends

Fashion from Clements Ribeiro, Paul Smith and Paul Costelloe at London Fashion Week. Picture / Reuters

Colour

Bright colours are set to dominate. Popular shades include cobalt, teal, tangerine, lilac and ruby red. Chocolate and cream offer a more muted alternative. For a flashier look you need go no further than something metallic.

Scarves

The longer the better, scarves are either brightly coloured or adorned with sequins. Frost French and Michiko Koshino's theatrical scarves gave their collections a winter-wonderland feel. Paul Smith offered a slimmed-down version of the striped college scarf while Jenny Packham coupled evening wear with sequinned scarves.

Chiffon

Chiffon baby-doll dresses are the perfect foil for chunky knits. At the more glamorous end, American Ben de Lisi showed a stunning range of printed chiffon dresses with plunging necklines.

Make-up

Blusher is exchanged for makeup that shades and contours the face without the obvious use of colour, leaving just a pearly shimmer. The mouth becomes the face's focus, with lips an intense red, or even blackened burgundy. Eyes might be smudged with ochre or dusky browns for depth but lashes are left bare.

Trenchcoats

Aquascutum's first catwalk show since it began in 1851 focused on both maxi and mini trench coats in black wool garberdine, raspberry pink satin and red plasticised cotton poplin. Trenchcoats also appeared at Karen Walker (double-breasted in blanket check wool) and Betty Jackson (in brown leather and Prince of Wales check).

Eighties silhouette

Not as dominant in 2005/06 as might have been expected, but from puffball and ra-ra skirts to longer tiered dresses, an 80s influence pervaded. Sportswear/fashion fusion label eleykishimoto ellesse were one of the few designers to pay definite homage to the decade in their quirky skiwear collection.

Ankle socks with skirts

As seen at Clements Ribeiro, modelled by Lily Cole, one of the stars of London Fashion Week. Cole is known for her alabaster looks but, off the catwalk, the look is probably more successful with a tan (fake or otherwise).