Following a classic English tea (in vintage cups) and biscuit reception we were lead up a grand old winding staircase to a large room where, if I remember correctly, the national anthem was playing. An impressive blood red velvet curtain fell parallel to a large gathering of press lined up along the back wall, and above the seated audience below. We were greeted by Antoni and Alison who gave a short but sweet welcoming and introduced a ‘A Spontaneous Piece of Work’ inspired by the black marker pen.

Grand atmospheric music played for what seemed a good few minutes and the audience and the press, cameras at the ready, waited in great anticipation of the unveiling of whatever lurked behind the theatre curtain. The music continued for what would usually have been a thumb twiddling, looking around few minutes but my eyes were glued to the red drapes and my bottom was on the edge of my seat! Ten female models were revealed-in a line and with their backs to us they turned towards the audience one by one, almost in slow motion, and like robot Stepford Wives they removed their headscarves.

The A/W 08 collection consisted of beautiful prints and vintage floral patterns, which were basically doodled over in a variety of thicknesses and techniques. Antoni and Alison had attacked these models with the black marker pen; headscarves, dresses, handbags and even their exposed legs and lips had become victims. I’m not being critical, these were great clothes and beautiful patterns and detailing had been created. Some scribbling was as the title of the collection suggested - spontaneous, whereas some of it was more controlled. The marker pen effect had also created precise detailing in the form of dots and bow illustrations.

There was a definite vintage air about the collection, something that I felt was lacking throughout the previous six days of LFW. The press release listed items called ‘quickly sketched jumper’, ‘ruined hunting scene headscarf’, ‘carelessly folded wool check shirt’, ‘jersey blouse t-shirt with ink-spot stag’, ‘badly drawn handbag’, ‘boring tweed headscarf with random line’ and ‘spoilt red tartan handbag with rush embellishment’.

The marker pen theme ran throughout the show, the invitation we had received was an upside down gas bill quirkily scribbled over. Portraits of the queen hung in elaborate gold frames and even they hadn’t escaped the vandalising marker pen. And in our goodie bags we found a special edition scribbled mug and the next best thing to a black marker pen- a chunky black eyeliner.

This supposedly haphazard and spontaneous collection I think was actually quite on the contrary, yet still brilliantly creative. Feminine, classic, vintage and pretty, with the cool urban contemporary twist of the marker pen. Bravo.