Fashion: Hot Thing

THE HUSSEIN CHALAYAN SAMPLE SALE COVENT GARDEN

CHECK THE bank account for funds, ask for an overdraft, or borrow some money, quick. All day tomorrow, Friday and Saturday, British designer Hussein Chalayan is holding a unique sale of his clothes. It is not a sample sale in the traditional sense: they usually offer end-of-line items, clothes, shoes and accessories, used in seasonal catwalk shows or left over from previous seasons. This sale offers a comprehensive selection from his current collection - the clothes available in the shops now - at prices that will quicken the pulse of his legion of fans, and excite lovers of avant-garde British fashion.

A sneak preview revealed day-wear pieces in white and navy linen, including skirt front trousers, wide leg trousers, a Mongolian style jacket and a few jersey dresses with his signature spirograph print, and knits but no evening wear. The cape-sleeved jacket and pleated skirt shown above, for example, would have cost pounds 525 from a boutique, but it will be pounds 250 all-in from the sale. Interested? If you are, bear in mind the average price for a jacket is pounds 170, a skirt pounds 70 and a pair of trousers about pounds 85. These prices, while hardly a snip, are not to be sniffed at; I looked in at French Connection on Saturday and there was, as usual, some lovely things to buy, in particular a gorgeous pleated skirt for pounds 80. I nearly bought it, but the possibility of having a Hussein Chalayan pleated skirt for pounds 70 was infinitely more appealing, and frankly, an opportunity not to be missed.

Melanie Rickey

Hussein Chalayan, Room B, 1st Floor Rear, 71 Endell Street, Covent Garden London WC2

Enquiries: 0171 379 5236

Thursday from 10 am to 7 pm Friday from 10 am to 6 pm

Saturday from 11 am to 4 pm