The high priestess of punk, Dame Vivienne Westwood, who has vowed to vote Conservative at the next election, could not resist a political statement at her first catwalk show in London for 10 years.
She opened her Red Label collection at London Fashion Week with a male model wearing "Guantanamo Orange" underpants and a girl carrying a placard protesting for the rights of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
Star models included the daughter of actor Ray Winstone, Jaime, in a plaid micro-mini and the socialite Alice Dellal, in hot pants with her hair half-shaved in a punk tribute to Dame Vivienne.
The collection covered looks from Miss Marple to Miss Moneypenny, and models with teased "Penelope Tree" hair and platform shoes.
Dame Vivienne took her bow in a pencil skirt, platforms and a blouse covered with protest badges.
"It feels like being at home," she said.
Luella Bartley's collection - inspired by living in Cornwall and tales of witches, fairies and pixies - saw trapeze-line coats, knitted pixie hats with mismatched tweed suiting and delicate, ribbon-trimmed frocks in flower-fairy pastels.
In the front row her cool customers - Lily Allen, Kelly Osbourne, Alexa Chung, Emilia Fox and Rod Stewart's daughter, Kimberly - wore her short, strapless prom frocks.
London-based Erdem Moralioglu, winner of the 2007 £50,000 British Fashion Council Enterprise Award, proved the investment in his talent was well-placed.
The 30-year-old designer created his own spectacular fauna and flora prints, woven by specialist mills on Lake Como.
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