Vivienne Westwood Anglomania fashion show at Selfridges

Selfridges kicks off the 'garage fashion' movement as celebrities flock to underground car park for Anglomania and Moscow Mules.

First, it was a charity sale for Mothers4Daughters, in the famous store’s garage, where the likes of Louise Redknapp, Jasmine Guinness and Yasmin Le Bon manned stalls, and shoppers queued to buy Gwyneth Paltrow’s Balenciaga heels, a pair of shoes signed by Dame Shirley Bassey and Lily Allen’s trainers.

Last night, Selfridges did it again when its car park became the setting for the first-ever fashion show in the United Kingdom of Vivienne Westwood’s funky, Anglomania collection.

Celebrities included Tracey Emin, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Florence Welch of Florence and The Machine, Little Boots, Sadie Frost, Girls Aloud’s Nicola Roberts, Rosemary Ferguson and her husband, Jake Chapman, Shingai Shoniwa of The Noisettes, and actress Bonnie Wright of Harry Potter fame.

It was strange enough to see Dame Vivienne, calmly sitting in the front row, with husband Andreas Kronthaler, on one of the rare occasions when she’s been able to watch one of her own shows, rather than organising things backstage.

Even curiouser was to see Lady Victoria Hervey, also front row, calmly smoking ‘a cigarette’. And no one tried to throw her out! Or called the ‘smoke police’. Or had an attack of the vapours! Of course, it wasn’t a real cigarette, but an American invention called ‘Smoke Stik’, which looks like the real McCoy, works on some sort of electronic gadgetry and emits a water vapour which makes a pretty good job of looking like smoke. Selfridges will apparently soon have them on sale.

The event marked the opening of Selfridge’s exclusive, new Anglomania concept, where the current autumn/winter and resort collections are already on sale, jersey dresses from £185, skirts from £149.

Daisy Lowe was one of the stars of the catwalk show, which previewed the new Anglomania spring/summer 2010 collection, available from late December. I loved the mix of naïve tribal prints and batiks, and the finale ball gown, in shot burgundy taffeta, with a bustle-train in Regency-stripe silk.

Yasmin Mills, who was wearing an Anglomania gold dress, can’t wait to get her heads on the wedge-sole ‘jelly’ shoes with ‘winged’ ankle-straps, by the Brazilian brand, Melissa, which came in gold and fuchsia and blue.

As if fashion, cocktails and celebrities were not enough, the store served up another surprise in the form of budding R&B singer, Dionne Bromfield, the 13-year-old god-daughter of Amy Winehouse, who performed two songs, ‘Foolish Little Girl’ and ‘Mama Said’, with Hawi on guitar. Dionne wore a printed, sweetheart neckline, prom dress from the new Anglomania collection which she chose herself. "Her clothes are so different, you just can't find anything like it anywhere."

See article at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/hilaryalexander/6588708/Vivienne-Westwood-Anglomania-fashion-show-at-Selfridges.html