London Fashion Week SS12 Kicks Off

Now that New York Fashion Week is a wrap, the spotlight turns today to London, where British designers are showcasing at their Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Up and comers including the designing duo behind Preen, above, whose spring 2012 collection features high-tech lace and pixelated pastels inspired by Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury set.

Burberry will once again live-stream its show (taking place Monday) at Burberry.com, where anyone can buy fashions directly from the runway. Not hitting the runway, however: Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen, along with some models who feel LFW doesn't pay well enough to merit their time. (Click here for the full LFW schedule.)

There's hope that McQueen and McCartney will return to London Fashion Week in the spring, ahead of the London 2012 pre-Olympics buzz. The British Fashion Council, meanwhile, this week announced that Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen will participate in an arts-based collaboration, Britain Creates, part of the London 2012 cultural program.

As part of Britain Creates, Burton will design a one-off piece in collaboration with a British "leading artist," as will Christopher Bailey for Burberry, Charming Baker, Hussein Chalayan, Giles Deacon, Jeremy Deller, Jess Flood-Paddock, Stephen Jones, Christopher Kane, Marc Quinn, Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood.