London’s Top Designers Tell Us The Secrets Behind Their Most Recent Collections

'Triangles are the most powerful, strongest structure in nature. They also [bring to mind] saucy knickers, let's be honest.'

'The collection is always based on a hundred things, but it was cemented this season when I found an image of me and my dad on Portobello Road in 1992.'

'I have always been curious about different cultures and I was lucky enough to travel to cities from London to India at the start of my career. This collection is a love letter to all the amazing people I met along the way – which is why I've named it 'Memories'. I wanted to blend these memories with the present and create new ones. It is this duality of my past and my present which is really represented in this collection.'

'The collection is very much the story of Cecil Beaton's early work, between the 1920s and 1930s, when he would photograph his sisters or himself out of homemade sets made of cellophane or tinfoil. I was fascinated by Beaton becoming the muse, and the muse becoming him.'

'That's what's so strange about being a model, you have to walk into a space of strangers. How do you compete with the space? Textures and volume - nouveau chic.'

'Whether you love it or hate it, I just want you to feel that it's worth coming on the tube to the show.'

'The starting point was Riders To The Sea, a play by J. M. Synge, that's set in the Aran Islands and deals with the themes of birth, life and loss for the women in the community. I thought about a catalogue of seaside references - fishermen's nets catching pearls, buoys and sailor stitches - for my autumn moodboard.'

'We design with no one woman in mind because we know that women of all ages and cultures wear our clothes.'

'The AW collection is a reaction to the times that have unfolded around us. Now is the time for determination and perseverance. This collection explores the strength and beauty in the seemingly banal places and moments that surround us everyday.'

'This collection was an exploration into light, movement and texture - the transition from one colour to the next, or the relationship of one fabric with the next.'

'I want [people] to take away something spiritual, something exciting and something challenging. Is it fashion? Would I wear it? How's that worn? It's meant to be inspiring really.'

'My job as an activist is to demolish the narrative. I'm taking the opportunity of London Fashion Week to defend human rights and free speech.'

'I wanted to lose my inhibitions. I don't like anything to look overly designed. I like it to feel easy. I wanted to play with a shorter length for such a long time, but now it feels right.'