Armani's Titanic night in London

GALLERY: See the stars at the Armani show and party here

And behind it all was a man who by rights should have collected his bus pass seven years ago.

Yes, Giorgio Armani certainly knows how to give good party.

The roll call of stars who turned up at Earl's Court Brompton Hall included Leonardo DiCaprio, Elle Macpherson, Beyoncé Knowles, Bryan Ferry, Bono, Kim Cattrall, Alicia Keys, Natalie Imbruglia, Razorlight and 50 Cent, with heavyweight backup from Sean Penn and Penelope Cruz on video link.

No party would be complete without a line-up of footballers (the expensive ones, of course), and the Armani bash - the highlight of London Fashion Week - boasted Andriy Shevchenko and his Chelsea team-mate Frank Lampard with their other halves.

To say that no expense was spared would be something of an understatement: every table had its waiter making sure noone's champagne glass ever went empty, and the canapés - figs, platters of Parma ham, salami, slices of steamed chicken - were provided by Giorgio Locatelli.

On hand were 50 black Audi A8s to ferry guests to and from the event. An informed estimate put the cost at £1,000 a head, and with 1,500 people there to check out the fashion, enjoy the show - and give their support to Bono's charity brand RED - it means Armani will have to sell an awful lot of clothes to pay for it all. But he does anyway, so that's all right. Then there was the entertainment.

Beyoncé may not have bothered to turn up for the Mobos, but she more than made up for it with a show-stopping version of Crazy In Love.

Most stylish performance of the night came from another old-timer. Bryan Ferry, about to turn 61 in four days, got the whole crowd dancing with his old hit Let's Stick Together.

Other acts included Razorlight, and 50 Cent, who got even the coolest supermodels dancing.

It has been a busy week for Armani, 72. Not content with showing his Emporio Armani and Emporio Armani RED lines for the first time last night he also found time to show off a newly-refurbished Emporio store in Knightsbridge, announced a fashion bursary at London St Martin's College, guest designed The Independent newspaper and managed to see young designer Todd Lynn's debut fashion show.

GALLERY: See the stars at the Armani show and party here

It has also been a good week for the fashion company founded by Armani in 1974 - of which he is sole shareholder. It was announced that profits have risen to £154.8 million this year.

Forty per cent of Armani's RED capsule collection profits will go towards the Global Fund, the agency fighting Aids in Africa. The showfocused on red, black and white stripes, graphic circle prints and lots of shorts shown off by 75 models including Lily Cole.

"London is one of the most vibrant cities, a reference point for all the arts, and certainly for fashion," said Armani before the show. "I hope that my new store will add further to the cosmopolitan culture."

No fashion event this week has been complete without discussion of the size-zero debate, and Armani became the most highprofile fashion figure to add his view. He said: "I have never wanted to use girls that are too skinny. I prefer girls that show off my clothes in the best way. Unfortunately though, the stylists and also the media have interfered and they now want models that are incredibly thin.

"No one thinks that for a girl to be fashionable she needs to be anorexic."