London Fashion Week: Jasper Conran goes green

LONDON (AP) — London Fashion Week has abandoned its home in the venerable, tradition-bound Somerset House on the banks of the River Thames for a converted parking garage in Soho.

It's a change of emphasis for the glitzy five-day fashion extravaganza, which draws buyers and a well-dressed fashion flock from around the world.

Downplayed is the emphasis on British culture and tradition, replaced by downtown chic, exemplified Saturday morning by an audience with more expensively-torn jeans than neckties.

They watched in appreciation as Jasper Conran showed shades of green in a series of relaxed outfits comprising his spring and summer 2016 collection.

They seemed like a confident celebration of summer, with easy lines, clean detailing, a minimum of fuss and models wearing their hair long and natural.

Dozens of shades of green were on display, some in prints, some standing alone, others mixed with white. He seemed to be running out of adjectives to explain the pallet: the outfits were described as "leaf green prints" or "bottle green" or "avocado" in descriptions.

There was an emphasis on thick stripes, often offset by handbags with stripes of the same dimension but in slightly different shades.

Sandals were gold and strappy — but that was about it for bling, save for a few sparkly, semi-sheer evening outfits.

There were comfortable cotton jersey tops and slacks, and fancier dresses made of silk.

Jackets were designed to be extremely revealing, in most cases with only a single button to keep them shut.

Other big events Saturday include the Hunter Original show and Versus by Versace.

Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith, Issa, Burberry and others will offer their collections Sunday and Monday as fashion week picks up pace.