RSGOLD-RUNESCAPEGOLD

I'm the most practical person and even I won't be parted from my tribal bracelets."Browns Focus buyer Monserrat Mukherjee on the new folksy fashion, Scene"I'm never going to be one of those trendy actresses who lives in Primrose Hill and shops in Voyage... I'd much rather sit in front of the telly eating McDonald's than be seen down the Met Bar, looking six stone."Patsy Palmer, aka EastEnders' Bianca, Elle (right)"I can't tell you the price of it until you tell me how much it cost."Calvin Klein Accessories press office on the phone to RL's fashion assistant."Where safari outfits once patrolled the summer collections, there are now SAS-style uniforms; where flimsy tea-party dresses held sway, there are A-line shapes inspired by tent designs."Frank's rather alarming forecast for spring/summer trends."It's indigenous to an urban way of life, and like any tribal colour it has meaning behind it. The silver jewellery Jade Jagger showed at Matthew Williamson resembled talismans and sacred amulets. but, at the same time, my relationship to the ones up there under the lights was only ever as a professional observer, while clothes were divided into ones I might actually buy and the ones I merely admired.

I might write at length, hyperbolically, about the beauty of a designer's sheer shift, for example, or a swathe of glistening evening gown, but the idea of actually wearing them never crossed my mind."Former fashion journalist Kathryn Flett, Elle"The world is becoming more spiritual Much of fashion's inspiration is coming from that. It's wrong to confuse the boundaries between them."Luigi Marmotti, chairman of MaxMara, argues against the fashion for art in fashion, Vogue"I confess I have been a frock luvvie in the past ... Their job is to bring commerce into London and they're really pitiful."Alexander McQueen berates the British Fashion Council, The Independent"I only wear what I want to wear It's not pressure I've had an association with Calvin Klein for a long time. And I do feel a certain loyalty to them, because they were the first people who said they liked my work and offered to lend me clothes - before I was famous or going out with anyone famous."Gwyneth Paltrow explains her dress-sense, W"I'm not against fashion houses supporting art as philanthropists, but I am sceptical when it becomes part of the marketing Fashion has a commercial sub-text, and art doesn't. on the knee or just below."Liz Tilberis, editor of Harper's Bazaar, and her obsession with skirt lengths"Unless they change the BFC, I will leave London. I've put so much money and energy into my work and that elevates London But they still don't get the press and buyers here.

The industry she stars in is too powerful, and she is too important an asset."Laura Craik on the mysterious Miss Moss, The Face (right)"Consider the skirt. I know I championed the midcalf skirt in my last letter; however, here are my final, final thoughts on current hemlines: If it's down to a choice of one, the directional buy is ... Yet nobody is willing to dish the dirt on the current troubles of Kate Moss. Instead it's going for a new "five-dot logo" and greater use of the NikeTown name. Consider it a good ticking off.OXYGEN"People with such standing as Prince Charles, Mohammed Al Fayed and, er, David Beckham have had facts revealed about them in the tabloids that no amount of money, position or power seemed able to cover up. Apparently, pyrotechnic Kate lit a candle which set fire to a scarf on her bedside table, setting off the alarm. The blazette caused "minimal damage and was quickly put out".