Robert Cary-Williams

Robert Cary-Williams is a St Martins' graduate who is tipped to be one of the hottest new names in British fashion. His show was not included on the official London Fashion Week schedule, but nonetheless managed to attract a crowd large enough to push the tourists off the pavement outside the salubrious Café de Paris. Inside the venue, the usual glamour and glitz decor had been sabotaged into a distressed grungy backdrop. Vast transparent plastic sheets hung over the Café's gothic columns and the designer's name was scrawled above the catwalk in black spray paint. The music kicked in and clanked away - it was a weird anti-melody which perfectly complements this collection where military fuses with medieval in a series of outfits that ooze deconstruction. Silver foil jackets with tails, combat net dresses, nylon flying suits and moulded rubber tops all combine to present a vision that is both beautiful and disturbing. Some of the pieces look like a surgeon's scissor-happy accidents, others are more medieval in their inspiration - like the chain mail top worn with huge chain mail gloves and plastic bracelets. While most of the models bared their feet, some wore incredible wooden block shoes. Colours include stone, beige, silver, khaki and olive. Cary-Williams' spring/summer collection proves that sometimes you really should believe the hype!