Polished and sexy Conran makes Smith look tacky

Sir Paul Smith, famous for his quirky menswear and modern spin on traditional tailoring, showed a collection that hesitated somewhere between last season's hippy romance and this season's high-voltage sex on the second day of London Fashion Week yesterday.

White lace-trimmed cotton Empire-line dresses were worn with black leather sleeveless vamp coats, while sweet camisoles were teamed with leather hot pants. There were even lace-up leather dresses and a black leather swimsuit worn over a white cotton shirt that would have been more at home on the catwalks of Versace or Dolce & Gabbana than at Smith, who has championed quintessential Englishness for his global market.

In fact, the only nod to his signature aesthetics were the lean tailored jackets and sloppy trousers, and the printed tea dresses and cotton shirt dresses that evoked images of 1940s England. It was a disappointing show from someone who is strapped neither for cash nor design initiative.

But where Smith's show lacked polish, Conran's more than made up for it: polished clothes for polished ladies.

Conran is not going to revolutionise the fashion world with his feminine tailoring and chiffon dresses perfect for summer weddings, but he has perfected his formula and stuck to it. And whereas Smith's leather looked tacky, Conran's white leather coatdresses and suede skirts with a deep hem of hand- embroidered flowers were sexy and sophisticated.

Boring for fashion people in search of the next big thing, but a sure cash-till ringer for Conran and a winner with the punter on the high street.

At the other end of the fashion spectrum is Warren Noronha, one of London's most promising talents, who showed his fifth collection last night. Noronha presented the razor-sharp tailoring and sexy draped dresses that are fast becoming his signature. Noronha's take on the jumpsuit – an elongated white cotton shirt and low slung trouser hybrid with a skinny belt wrapped around the hips – was a show stopper.