Since the swinging Sixties, London has been known as the world's hub of inspirational, cutting-edge fashion design. The last ten years in particular have seen an unmatched flowering of creative talents, with a host of young designers springing up to join the big names. What is it about London that makes it such a hotbed of creativity?

The London Fashion Book has the answer. Focusing both on the catwalk and behind the scenes, here unfolds a vast panorama of talents from Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith, Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Katharine Hamnett, and Zandra Rhodes to edgy, up-and-coming designers including Julien MacDonald, Hussein Chalayan, Owen Gaster, and Antonio Bevardi. And where would these be without London's hatters (Philip Treacy), shoemake (Patrick Cox and Manolo Blahnik), designers of scarves (Georgina von Etzdorf), and jewelers? This book tells all from who's at the top of their field, to what got them there, to where to find their creations.

Illustrated with hundreds of pictures by some of Britain's finest fashion photographers and illustrator, The London Fashion Book visits the cognoscenti's favorite haunts and dishes up London fashion's heroes and heroines, model-divas, muses, partygoers, and poseurs- everyone who contributes to the buzz, the electricity, that makes London the envied epicenter of the world of style.