For all the praise a young designer may receive however, there is nothing like a bit of concrete help in those early days and so here comes The British Fashion Council (BFC), organizer of London fashion week, riding into town on a white horse.

Since 1993 the BFC and a chosen sponsor have each season selected a number of new designers to take under their wing through the New Generation initiative. 14 new names were chosen this time around with six getting the cold hard cash to pay for a runway show as well as a place on the official schedule. The rest are helped with sales space in the exhibition hall next to the main catwalk venue but, most importantly of all, what they all get is lashings of publicity.

With past beneficiaries including Alexander McQueen, Clements Ribeiro, Julien Macdonald and Sophia Kokosolaki, it can all be seen to work as well.

But what of the talent this time around? Basso & Brook undoubtedly had the biggest amount of attention this season but credit should go to the jury as well as the young designers themselves as none of those selected looked out of place on the main schedule and all can look forward to many more years of success.

Richard Nicholl

Since graduating in 2002 in menswear design this young Australian has quickly proved a capacity to translate ideas from men’s tailoring into feminine pieces and has thus acquired a loyal following including Bjork, Kylie Minogue and art world bad girl Tracy Emin.

Key looks included smock shirts with tuxedo-pleated fronts and rolled-up sleeves over mini herringbone shorts, hemmed in by cropped olive green bustier style waistcoat elements. The sleek PVC polo neck under garment, Wild West tie and charcoal stockings giving a harder, more urban edge to what may have otherwise been too girly.

Skirts gathered back up under the hemline and hung off-kilter were also interesting, as were ruffle collared blouses and short sequinned dresses nipped in at the waist by broad plastic belts. A special mention should go to the excellent work of the styling team that brought together well many disparate elements.

Sinha - Stanic

Gone was the soft tailored feel of the Anglo-Croatian duo’s previous work and what we saw here were harder, tougher silhouettes. The collection, realized almost exclusively in black, was often redolent of the Eighties with its little black dresses in stretch materials and square shouldered leather trouser suits; the gold detailing and accessories did much to increase this impression but such elements were more discreet here however than often were witnessed in the decade of power dressing.

A look indicative of the collection included a cropped matador jacket and pencil skirt, both fashioned from strips of frayed satin and worn over a tight polo-neck top in silk jersey. Otherwise we saw enveloping dresses which resembled camel coats, skirts with angular seams to define the hips and short jackets cut to give volume at the back. High hemlines featured throughout.

C.Neeon

This was a collection as contemporary, if less gritty, as one might expect from a Berlin based pair. Turquoise, orange, green and red dominated outfits awash with color: décolleté V-neck pullovers with kimono sleeves and pixie boots giving a vaguely cartoon fairytale feel to the show.

Leggings, which emerged from elf-like ankle boots faded from orange into green and disappeared under hooded tops, covered in crazy linear motifs. Perhaps the best silhouette however was drawn from a palette of black and ivory. Leather knee boots hid linen trousers that loosely skimmed the body while a chic hooded top of the same color and proportions integrated two scarf-like bands in ivory which descended to the waist. As well as being original, the result looked as sophisticated as it did comfortable.

Gareth Pugh

Famed for his theatrical, fantasy based work Pugh has continued to grow his fan base since last season’s alien inspired collection. This time around the influences for these equally bazaar creations came from the underground world of fetish clubs but with a gothic twist. Sculptured plastic bubble coats with angular lapels were combined with PVC trousers, as were oversized tulle ruffle bolero jackets. This clearly wasn’t a collection for everybody but with his distinctive designs Pugh will continue to be popular with magazine art directors.

So now the only thing that remains is to wait for next season and see how these new designers develop, as well of course as discovering the next batch of emerging talent.