A festive circus of full-on glamour: Ashish A/W 09

Fashion is a language and it can mean different things to different people: for some it’s a form of art, for others it’s an unreal, unfair and at times cruel superficial and self-indulgent act.

Fashion is passionately loved, hated or criticised, yet what we often forget to remember is that it also means creativity and therefore fun.

With a few exceptions, most of the designers who recently showcased their new collections in New York, revealed they were either worried, uncertain or hopeful about the future, but London Fashion Week has definitely brought back the fun in fashion.

While the Central St Martins show proved as usual there are fresh and exciting ideas coming from young and talented designers, Ashish Gupta invited his audience to have fun at his very personal circus.

After cartoon prints, sequinned smiley faces, polka dots, bold clashes of colours, badge covered jumpsuits and such likes, I was looking forward to seeing what Ashish had up his sleeve this time and I must admit I wasn’t disappointed.

The circus theme has already been widely explored in fashion, but Ashish managed to totally reinvent it in a glamorously crazy way.

There weren’t real animals at Ashish’s circus, but models clad in animal print mini-dresses, tops, jackets and coats in vivid colours dusted with sequins.

In some cases leopard, tiger, giraffe and zebra prints were mixed all together in the same garment, creating in this way unusual and over the top effects and contrasts with different textures; in others one part of an animal – the head of a zebra, for example – surrealistically sat on the sleeve of a sweatshirt. While there were no clowns, there were plenty of coats and trousers decorated with multi-coloured pompoms.

Yet the circus was just one of Ashish's inspirations: traditional winter jumpers with snowflakes and reindeers were totally reinvented, transformed into glamorous sequinned pieces ideal to wear at the party of your life; entertainers à la Liberace inspired instead piano key skirts – a direct reference to the infamous piano keys suit worn by flamboyant pianist and entertainer Liberace – and mini-dresses with sequinned trompe l’oeil tuxedo jackets; sportswear inspired the sweatshirts with beaded epaulettes and sequinned tracksuits with a hood that zipped all the way up; there was also a little tribute to America in the star-spangled trousers, shorts and gloves for all those Wonder Women out there who want to dare.

Those Ashish fans who want to opt for a less sparkly look can choose the sweatshirts with three-dimensional roses blooming all over them or around the neckline. For those ones who prefer full-on glamour there are instead long gowns with names of international capitals in bright colours.

Energetic, dynamic and ironic Ashish’s new collection features the sort of garments that do not allow the wearer to pass unnoticed and guarantee a glamorous and electrifying entrance.