Le freak, c’est chic in playful shows

LONDON Fashion week lived up to its reputation for the offbeat yesterday with contrasting autumn/winter collections by Arkadius and Jessica Ogden that shared a distinctive sense of fun.

Inspired by an elegant old woman strolling in Warsaw, Polish-born Arkadius sent his models out in seductive black and copper-coloured tunics with mini skirts and high-heeled boots wrapped in stockings.

He brought a military motif to sharply cut black and grey bolero-style jackets, dressed his models in pale green and red skirts and added oversize heart-shaped earrings and towering hats to emphasise the playful side of sexy.

"I was interested in juxtaposing the elegant and the freaky. The collection is about the unexpected," Arkadius full name Arkadius Weremczuk said after the show, the words, Le Freak, C'est Chic, pencilled above his lip.

"It's for someone who wears trainers and jeans but wants to be more elegant," he said.

"I was inspired by an old lady I saw wandering in Warsaw who was dressed very elegantly. Old ladies tend to dress elegantly even if they're only going to buy a croissant in the morning."

Arkadius, who counts singers Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys as fans, closed his show with a model in the centre of a huge, tent-like hoop dress.

British designer Ogden kept up the fun while toning down the sex presenting her collection through the eyes of a seven-year-old yearning for the clothes of adulthood.

To the dreamy melody of a Beethoven piano sonata, a child-like model rummaged through a trunk overflowing with clothes on a set designed as a girl's bedroom.

Models strutted the catwalk wearing patched trousers and men's shirts, turquoise headbands and striped jumpers, which combined to illustrate the girl's tomboy side.

"It was based on the idea that you're as much a boy as a girl when you're that age and you swing both ways," Ogden said.

But the playful look gave way to long patchwork dresses, vests with frilly collars and cashmere cardigans which the designer said a girl might wear to impress her mother.

The vintage-look was a nod to Ogden's work at Third World charity Oxfam, where she customised donated clothes before setting up her own label in 1993.

The show ended with the ideal fairytale outfit a high-waisted, deep red silk dress with a plunging neckline.

London Fashion Week continues today with shows by Jasper Conran and Antoni and Alison and wraps up tomorrow when Ghost, Pringle and Julien MacDonald unveil their newest collections.