That recession thing everyone was obsessing over during New York Fashion Week? Well, in London, they have no idea what you're talking about.
From our first show, Ashish - which featured a raging live performance, acrobats and gift bags packed full of makeup - to the last, there wasn't even the slightest sign of an economic downturn. Champagne and food flowed, beer, wine and liquor, too; coffee in the mornings, water, Vitamin water, and Godiva chocolates everywhere you turned.
Gift bags popped up at almost every show - two at some like Roksanda and PPQ - totes packed with cosmetics, hair products, magazines, t-shirts and Barbies. And it felt like every single designer had an after party - including magazine and store parties, there must have been at least seven events a night.
And the photo pits, which we noticed were considerably smaller in New York this season, were huge. Not just at shows like Vivienne Westwood, but at Charles Anastase and Krystof Srozyna, too.
More importantly, no one even talked about it. Except for us of course, desperately running around asking everyone both British and American why it felt different on this side of the Atlantic. No one had an answer.
So we'll leave it up to Paris - let the French have the final say in just how much the industry's letting its inner turmoil reflect in its public face while we recover from London's rollicking week-long party.
