Diamonds are forever

Scottish label Pringle showed its second London Fashion Week collection today in the opulent surroundings of the Liberal Club at Number 1 Whitehall, aptly renamed the Cashmere Club for the day.

Since being bought by Hong Kong-based financier Kenneth Fang in 2000, the knitwear company that used to be more at home on the golf course, with its products worn by the likes of Nick Faldo, has plundered its vast archive (the company was founded by Robert Pringle way back in 1815) to reinvent itself as a contemporary, but classic, fashion brand in the same way that Burberry has successfully done.

Today's collection looked back to the Forties and Fifties for inspiration with neat skirt suits and trenchcoats - albeit in pink and black Argyll pattern - and clever knitwear that incorporated classic kilt fastenings with the height of sophistication.

Keen to play on all things Scottish, Pringle drafted in a line-up straight from television's Monarch of the Glen and brought Scottish supermodel Kirsty Hume out of virtual catwalk retirement to show off the Argyll knits, mini-sweater dresses and elegant tailoring to the international fashion pack.

Joining her were Jasmine Guinness and Jodie Kidd - a favourite model of the label. With its second collection consolidating its status as a world-class brand with a look that can be best described as "Scottish with a twist", Pringle is expected to be a sell-out success when the latest collection hits its Bond Street store in the autumn.