Paris!! Roving Reporter : Gareth Pugh

While some design houses in Milan are struggling to go to production, Pugh however is resting assured that LVMH is picking up the tab. On that note Pugh has come down off his creative horse and fashioned a collection that combined innovation and wearability. 

Black was accented by silver (keeping the Pugh Sci-Fi feel) and shapes switched between the signature outlandish pieces and sleek body, commercially viable looks.

Shoulders were again the focal point, with strong, squared lines. There was a mixture of dresses, outerwear and long legged, slim fit trousers that covered footwear, a totally different silhouette to other designers (but choice is good).

Panelling was used to combine the metallic against the deepest of black shades, though over all there was a shine on the whole collection. Chiffon added a more feminine look to what was quite a hard edged, masculine look.

The most interesting point I feel was how Pugh (the man who once made a human tomato costume on a Fashion Tv reality show - the days before project catwalk) has grown up. But he hasn't discarded his interest in the super natural and the new. There were spike like furs that looked incredibly dangerous and reminded me of iron fillings standing on end. It was truly spectacular! 

Roving Reporter: Alexandra Groover

Have just gotten back from Ashish, have just sat through another fashion show (already running 45 min late), have just eaten two mini bananas as Naomi (The Kaiser) had not allowed me to stop for food. Need complex carbs soon or an insulin drip.

Alexandra Groover, the LFW first-timer who designed the last set of clothes we saw, seems to be feeling the recession a bit more than Ashish or Eun Jeong. In all black - literally - Groover sent out about a dozen looks that all used texture, rather than colour, to add interest.

One of her most unique bits came at the beginning, when she experimented with a technique that neither Naomi nor I know what to call. (Rivkie, perhaps you are wiser.) Dresses were cotton jersey tunics, slightly draped and cinched at the low waist. But with slashes every inch or two, the frocks were anything but simple.

Will the newbie complicate her colour palette as much as her construction next season? Too soon to tell.