London wylde

Vivienne Westwood gives peachy plaids a punk twist for Fall 2010IMAGE: Giovanni Giannoni for Women's Wear Daily

With a down trending economy, and the death of one of Britain's most celebrated designers looming over Fashion Week, industry insiders held little hope for an upbeat London, but just a few days in the world is witnessing designers rallying to take it all in stride, and redefine style for Fall 2010.

Highlights from the collections thus far include:

Bold color and relaxed construction at Matthew Williamson set a graceful, almost Grecian tone.

Soft neutrals with asymmetrical necklines and  patent leather touches bright nature and urban together at Nicole Farhi.

the future may be dark, but the clothes are fabulous at Louise Goldin/Image: Giovanni Gianonni for WWDFuture dystopia may have been an inspiration at Louise Goldin, but out of this world stiffly constructed knits delighted.

Josephine dreams floated down the runway at Kinder Arggugini's homage to Napoleonic fashion complete with empire gowns and elaborately braided hair.

and finally,

The high priestess of punk Vivienne Westwood, did not disappoint with her Red Label collection that featured saucy tartans, (pictured above)  corsets, graphic elements and a heavy dose of  rebellion-chic all accented with her trademark inventive and perfectly executed construction. Does it ever get better than Westwood?

For complete slide shows of all the London collections visit Women's Wear Daily, and check back with Style Wylde for more highlights from the European Fall 2010 shows.