Yesterday, on day one of London's menswear collections, story tellers Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff built a fin de siècle vision of romance and degeneration, where inhabitants posed in a maze of bin bags, dressed in a mash-up of Edwardian finery and spare, androgynous separates in PVC.
As with their womenswear shows, Penhaligon's scented the production with the aromatic Hammam Bouquet - the house's oldest fragrance created in 1872 - which, with the billows of smoke, guided you around the olfactory nirvana.
As for the clothes - from alice-bands to leggings, playful layering and belted-high-waisted ruffle trousers (unsurprisingly) - they embodied the kind of his and hers style that this designer couple so love.
PVC - an emerging theme from the men's shows - not only covered legs but came in the form of a peacoat and trench. These were followed by mustard wool pieces with exquisitely embroidered detailing that recalled the Belle Epoque.
It was the way the pair issued luxurious liquid lustre PVC trenches with knee-length white shirts, artfully manipulated at the hem (which from afar resembled beautiful broderie anglaise) that hailed supreme.
Read all about London Collections: Men here...
See the fashion off the runway in our street style gallery...
