Cara Delevingne finally makes an appearance at London Fashion Week as Emma Hill signs off in style at Mulberry



Mulberry's Emma Hill announced her departure earlier this year

Cara Delevingne appeared on the catwalk for Hill's swansong show

Anna Wintour and Alexandra Shulmann joined Alexa Chung on the FROW



Today's Mulberry show, held at noon in Claridge's, begun, as has become tradition, with a Bloody Mary-fuelled drinks reception where air kissing and catwalk catch-ups create a hubbub that whips up pre-show excitement to fever pitch.

One of the buzzier events on the LFW calendar, it's quite an occasion even before the clothes reach the catwalk.



Today though, the anticipation was perhaps even more tangible, given that this was to be Creative Director Emma Hill's last for the British design house.

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She's back! Cara Delevingne leads out the models at Mulberry creative director Emma Hill's last show



Elegant: Cara Delevingne sported a beautifully tailored short suit and a pailette-embellished white dress Floral: Hill's graphic blooms were used liberally on dresses

Cool crimson: Patriotic scarlet and white dominated the palette Retro: Hill's old fashioned Marimekko style prints were a hit Cool canines: In true Mulberry style, designer-clad dogs accompanied the models onto the catwalk

Best accessory: Turbo the Mulberry bulldog was one of the stars of the show

Contrast: Nubuck and suede introduced gentle structure while bold blooms on silk brought a country garden feel. I loved the bold orange platforms, which picked out orange splashes throughout the collection



New favourite: The Willow given an update for SS14 with embroidery Want...it...now: Clutch in fiery orange

Hill announced her departure from the company in June, making this her swansong collection. The moodboard, which in these plugged-in times was shared by Mulberry via email and social networking before the show, spoke of quintessentially English tea time, ditzy florals in china print tempered by soft pinks, blues and greys.

And that was indeed what was delivered: Clean-lined coats in floral jacquard, fluid long-legged trousers in feather-light pavement grey silk, light summer blues, ballet pink silk and bright textured whites.



Then came bolder florals - big blooms on silk tees and dresses, smaller prints on a clutch. The colour palette was bold but streamlined - blue, orange, cream, white, grey - with those same hues running through print and trim.



Nappa leather shirts, trousers, skirts and jackets provided gentle structure with a hint of edge. I loved a striped tee in midnight blue Nappa suede and its matching skirt, also the elegant cream embroidered coats and pyjama silk trousers and floaty blouses.



This being Mulberry, bags were standout too. The popular Willow was reincarnated in silky midnight blue calf, embroidered with white raffia flowers or in Nubuck stripes.

The classic Bayswater was rendered in fiery orange or inky blue Nubuck stripes making it a must-have... again.

And the large Kensal made an appearance in cream or summer blue velvet calf.



Cara Delevingne opened the show, and was only slightly overshadowed by the two canine catwalk stars who walked in Mulberry coats.



Last year's doggy star, a standard poodle called Max, came to watch, dressed in a plaid Mulberry cost and sporting a flawless new hairstyle - the best dressed on the front row perhaps?



Anna Wintour seemed to think so - she was cooing over the dog as he tried to creep up on the catwalk. Proof that Ms Wintour is maybe not as icy as her reputation would suggest.



With Wintour and her UK Vogue counterpart Alexandra Shulman in the front row, fashion's foremost editorial figures were represented.



So too was the celebrity element, with Alexa Chung, she of Mulberry's Alexa satchel fame, taking her place alongside actor Douglas Booth and actresses Juno Temple and Rebecca Hall.





Seal of approval: Anna Wintour, left, sat front row next to Conde Nast chairman Jonathan Newhouse Animated: U.S. Vogue editor Anna Wintour looked excited to be at the show today

The FROW: Lea Seydoux, Rebecca Hall, Alexa Chung and Douglas Booth had a ringside seat at Mulberry

The show, which played out to a soundtrack including Madness's Our House, a bit of Queen and the children's party song, If You're Happy And You Know It, saw models step through elegant doorways covered with ivy and climbing white roses, bringing a stately home country garden feel to the hotel's interior.

The show notes said Mulberry 'revisited the style attitude 'Le Style Anglais' with its laid back interpretation of heritage luxury'.

'The new season is both town and country: the collection was influenced by modernist overtones from Sixties London juxtaposed with the opulence of a quintessential English country house and gardens,' they said.

'In its style and attitude the collection embraced both familiarity and modernity, working with classic prints and textures reinterpreted to create new season signatures imbued with Mulberry's inherent British wit.'

Swansong: Creative Director Emma Hill walks out onto the catwalk to take a bow for the last time at Mulberry

It came to a close to a rousing rendition of Land Of Hope And Glory, which saw fashion commentator Hilary Alexander jigging along in time to the music.

But Liz Jones, who was still reeling after being accosted for a photo by a fan after the show ('I don't usually get people telling me they like me!') said she would have hoped for Hill to go out on more of a high.

'I didn't think it was her best, to be honest,' said the Daily Mail fashion columnist. 'There was a lot of very sticky out fabric.

'Some of the coats were nice, but there was some very thick fabric that is not easy to wear. The shoes were quite clumpy too.'

But the celebrities, who are, after all the ones with the money to buy it, were more enamoured with the designs, with Alexa Chung declaring that she loved it all.



For her part, Hill proved just how those 'tricky' fabrics and pieces should be worn when she stepped out to take her final bow.

She wore a midnight blue Nappa leather jacket, cropped, short fur sleeves, with her jeans.



Bowing out in style.







