LONDON–Talk about texture blocking. In one of the final shows of London Fashion Week, Emilio de la Morena may have proved he is the king, using rectangular patches of shimmering fabric, tulle styled like macrame, and netted knits to give his fashion a distinct, squared-off look.

My personal preference leans towards de la Morena‘s spring collection, filled with sweet eyelet-punched leathers in Easter colors. But in terms of salability, fall wins. The stretchy pieces are more forgiving and, frankly, sexier. Particularly in noir colors like black, rouge, and eggplant.

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LONDON–Roksanda Ilincic‘s Fall 2011 collection was interesting. Part of it–the dark lips, the silver satin–reminded me of Gwyneth Paltrow circa 1996. Another part–the loose waves, the column dresses in odd colors like tangerine and royal blue–reminded me of 1940s Hollywood. Despite its glossy facade, I was a bit befuddled by it all. And not necessarily in a bad way. Ilincic is quite obviously designing for herself, not around what people expect from her. Is that the makings of a great designer? I think…maybe.

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LONDON–Last season, the fashion industry was pleased with Marios Schwab’s Halston collection in New York, disappointed by his eponymous showing in London. As Long Nguyen said on Fashionista, “He needs to bring back a bit of fearlessness and risk.”

This season, things were different. While Halston proved a bit flat, London ready-to-wear was on key, featuring a set of dresses and separates that were sexy, cool, and sophisticated: Ideal for his hip London customer, but also good for his wealthy Halston-obsessed lady.

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LONDON–Giles is always a confident collection. Mr. Deacon is cocky–in the best possible sense of the word–which make his clothes sing, no matter what idea he’s tackling.

But last night was different. Set in the second highest court house in the country–we had to go through metal detectors to enter–it was more mature without losing that distinctive Giles feel. Comprised mostly of black and white, the designer showed plenty of takes on the traditional white blouse and the little black dress, tying it all up with a prim bow in each girl’s hair.

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LONDON–Christopher Bailey is an optimist. “I don’t think it’s been a negative time in fashion!” he exclaimed to a reporter after yesterday’s lovely Burberry Prorsum show. By the time I got my chance to ask him a few questions, I already had a clear idea of his vision for Fall 2011: Early 1960s Burberry adverts starring Jean Shrimpton, and the weather. Those two references translated to a modern, cocoon-like silhouette and a finale that included clear–black patent leather piped–rain capes and “snow” falling from the rafters. (The first row’s heads were covered in the confetti, including Anna Wintour’s.)

What is it with Brits and the weather? “I think because it’s so changeable. I called my mum yesterday and she said that it was snowing in Yorkshire, which is only three hours away,” he told me enthusiastically, as if it was the first question he’d been asked all day. “Here, it was kind of bright sunshine and somewhere else it’s rainy. It changes so much that I think it’s something that we’ve become obsessed about.”

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LONDON–There’s been a trend this season which everyone’s calling “texture blocking.” Like Alexander Wang and Peter Pilotto, Erdem used this technique, but it was more about the fusing of two fabrics than blocking.

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LONDON–As much as I’d like to ignore Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos‘ program notes about Fall 2011′s “army of youthful revolutionaries” and simply talk about how the clothes looked, I can’t. Just a post ago, I made the argument that fashion is art, so why shouldn’t this team’s art be taken as seriously as what’s on right now at the Tate?

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