Friday at AFW08

A 1960s vibe kick-started the show today - Ucreative at Rochester showed a collection of printed tunic dresses which included a contrasting array of subjects from buttons to guns and flowers. London-based Bahar Akpour focused on a very natural colour palette inspired by rocks and moss. Pieces included a zipped woollen coat with button detail, a pretty mini Bolero jacket worn with white wide-legged hipster trousers and a stand-out felt coat with back straps.

Siberian Olga Yuzhaninova is currently working at the studio of Osman Yousefzada and showed a collection of menswear mixing paper silk trousers and shirts with twisted wool jackets and sleeveless tops in tones ranging from beige to autumnal reds. Linzie Elliott hails from Devon where she hooked up with a leather expert who taught her techniques which resulted in her integrating chunky belts and neckpieces into a collection inspired by Banksy and punk. Using antique Union Jack flags and hessian, she's created a series of Rule Brittania frocks and military clothes accessorised with leather chaps worn as leggings, walking sticks and pheasant feathers.

Manit Pal Sing Wadhwa is a student at the Pearl Academy of Fashion in New Delhi and he travelled all the way to east London to show us his collection of hand stitched beaded men's traditional Indian coats inspired by Indian Spices. It is Manit's hope that his clothes will translate across all cultures and he managed to persuade the show's organiser, Maggie Pinhorn, to model one of his creations on the catwalk.

Jasmin Frei is a graduate of Westminster University whose work focuses on architecture. Tweeds sourced from the magical market at Shepherd's Bush were screen printed with orange panels. Playing with pleats is at the heart of this collection, the designer starting a pleat in one direction only to change to the opposite further along. It's well executed and there are some strong pieces here include a soft grey twisted coat and a tunic dress. Waltham Forest students celebrated a riot of colour in a garments ranging from shredded detail shorts and shirts and fan collared tops.

Manchester's Wayne Bailey graduated from Plymouth University with 'Hibernation', a collection of modern menswear and womenswear featuring leather car coats, paisley printed shirt worn with paisley braces and pinstriped harem trousers with straps with 'snail' buttons featuring on jackets. Lova Moller has taken the humble Rubik's Cube as the starting point for her very sleek collection: tailored shirts, fitted trousers, a deep blue tunic dress and a stunning white coat with a cut-out collar all stood out.

Sarah Ormanroyd showed us cute wool capes with shorts and skirts, column dresses with a military feel, a belted raincoat and swing coat all with contrast panels and pocket details. Terry de Havilland commented from the audience "I like that - it's a bit wallaby". TRAID has been a pioneering force in recycled fashion and you'd be forgiven for not realising their outfits are all constructed from cast-offs. Great pieces include a red sleeveless dress worn with a corset belt and floral printed chiffon dress. Finally, Ricardo Ramos returned to the Alternative Fashion Week catwalk with a 'Back To The Roots' a collection fusing traditional Colombian weaving techniques, ancestral patterns from the native Kuna community with Colombian folk costumes all modelled by enthusiastic dancing models who delivered a fun and upbeat end to Alternative Fashion Week.

Words: Marian Buckley
Photos: John Adrian