It's all hotting up at Topshop HQ and preparations for the Unique show on Sunday are well underway! We keep sneaking in to watch our amazing in-house design team at work - it's incredible to see how a collection takes shape. Read on for your very own sneaky peek at Unique AW12. We're so excited!

Each piece is loving crafted in plain fabrics and individually fitted to one of our models. It's like seeing the collection before it's coloured in!

The showstoppers are starting to take shape! Every season we crane our necks to see the stand-out dresses, the beautiful gowns that are bound to steal the show.

Hand-crafting the accessories to complete our show looks is a long process, but so worth it!

We always have a walk-through with models to see how the fabrics move together on the catwalk - it's the first time we really see the collection come to life and the whole team are so excited afterwards.

Before the show starts the team will work out what order the clothes should be shown in. If you squint a bit you can make out the model boards in the background too.

The finishing touches are lined up and ready to be selected for the look they'll accompany.

We're finally photographing each finished look, ready to re-create it on the day! Excitement is at fever pitch and it's time to ship the finished pieces to the Topshop showspace, where months of hard work will make their way down the catwalk in front of the industry's top insiders. We're live streaming the show on Topshop.com, Facebook and in our iPhone app, so you can see next season's style the minute it steps out. And remember to check back on Inside-Out and Twitter for all the action as it happens!

It started off in the wild and arid Australian outback, and finished on the catwalk as one of the most coherent, covetable and commercially viable collections Rodarte has produced to date.

Kate and Laura Mulleavey were inspired by the history of Australia for their AW12 collection, weaving flickers of its rich past into their dreamy clothes; a prim double breasted prairie jacket here, an evocative aboriginal print there. There was a touch of the modern Australian cool-girl there too, with floor length tiered dresses made from wisps of chiffon, and shrunken cable knits and touches of lace giving a nod to the here and now. 

Top of our lists were the shearling jackets with oversize lapels and nipped in waists – perfect for throwing over delicate party dresses. And speaking of party dresses, the leather sheaths that the Mulleavey sisters sent down the catwalk – complete with contrast leather inlay in striking patterns – are sure to be snapped on all the street style blogs come Autumn. 

Front row, Natalie Portman and Dakota Fanning were making notes for next season – we’re wondering who’ll pluck up the courage first to wear the shoes: heavily embellished booties with Perspex heels filled with sand. The show may have been a reference to the past, but the heels certainly kicked to the future.

A bright red majorette hat usually comes with a toy soldier, but when Marc by Marc Jacobs' models marched down the catwalk this afternoon, they weren't playing around.  Instead, the models' silhouettes boasted a military precision - sharp triangle skirts, nipped-waist blazers, and tapered silk trousers were all part of the Marc by Marc procession. But though his lines were rigid, Jacobs didn't exactly color inside of them: silks were printed with exaggerated doily patterns and dip-dyed brown and black; gold polka dots stained and burned party dresses with permanent imprints.  

The shape of skirts to come is still undeniably full and feminine: our favourite was a pretty velvet dress elegant in midnight blue that will look as good with patent courts and a statement necklace as it will with woolly black tights and a duffel overcoat. As we’ve come to expect with Marc by Marc, these are pieces made to have universal appeal, with a cut, fabric and colour to suit all tastes.

But while some elements of the clothes had the precision of a well-running train, the overall feel of the show was that of Soul Train. Young, free, and fun, Marc by Marc gives us clothes to boogie down in.

If there’s one woman in Topshop who knows how to dress for London Fashion Week, it’s our Creative Director Kate Phelan. Having worked on the glossy pages of British Vogue for over 20 years, Kate has planned and packed ensembles for every front row worth sitting on, in New York, London, Paris and Milan. As one of the industry’s leading stylists, Kate has perfected the art of dressing and is sharing her secrets to effortless style, as well as her favourite pieces from our SS12 collections with us. Be sure to take a look at her survival kit and enjoy catching up with Kate in our interview. We could have sat and listened to her talk for hours!

I first became interested in fashion when… I was living at home with my parents. My mum was a subscriber to Vogue so it was always in the house. It was something we were never allowed to put our mugs on, something we weren’t allowed to sort of touch in a way. Growing up outside of London in Devon, my access to fashion was very limited so when I saw a magazine like Vogue, it made me go and scour vintage shops and jumble sales for anything that resembled a piece I’d seen being worn.

My earliest fashion memory is… seeing a Bruce Weber shoot that Grace Coddington styled in 1983. I became obsessed with it. I begged my mum to let me have the pictures from her Vogue to stick on my wall. I even took them into the hairdressers and said I wanted my hair cut like that. At the time no one had clue what I was doing or why I was doing it.

I wanted to do History of Art at university… but I had such a good time at college that I failed my A-levels. During the year I was supposed to retake those A-levels I made clothes. I would take my dole money, buy fabric, tie-dye it and then take a trip up to London to sell in Camden Market. Eventually my mum said I should go and do a fashion course so I ended up at Somerset College of Arts and Technology on a really average course with girls who just wanted to make car cushions for their boyfriends. When it came to me leaving and I told the tutors I wanted to go to Central Saint Martins they burst out laughing and told me not to be ridiculous. But I thought, I’m not going to put up with this and off I trotted to my interview and I managed to get in which I was as surprised about as they were.

I realised I wanted to be a stylist when… in my first year of my Fashion Communication and Promotion course, it became apparent that I was much more interested in the finished product than the creation of the product. I ended up doing a placement at Vogue and within a week, I realised that this was it. I never knew that there was such a thing as a Fashion Editor and this was brilliant to me. I was supposed to be there for three months but I managed to stay there for a bit longer and then a bit longer. Eventually a new fashion editor started working there who needed an assistant and they said she could have me. It was Sarah Jane Hoare who had come from the Observer and when it came to the point where she needed a full time assistant, they offered me a full time job. 

When I joined Vogue I still had no idea about the industry... I remember one of the Editors asking me to ring Manolo and ask for some pumps - at that time I didn’t even know who or what Manolo was. I remember thinking that everything was so grand and brilliantly polished - they were all so well informed and so chic and stylish.

Being offered the job at Vogue made me realise… that in the fashion industry, so much of it is about timing and being in the right place at the right time. I didn’t finish my degree at Saint Martins, but I’ve never ever regretted it - I absolutely believe that if I hadn’t have made that decision, everything would be so different for me now. I knew that when I finished college and came out with a degree, the job I would want was the job I was just about to be offered.

I ended up working at Vogue for over 20 years… because where else would you want to work on a magazine in England? When I first started there, I stayed for three years and then went to Marie Claire to be their Fashion Editor. By the time I’d got to that stage in my career there, Alexandra Shulman had become the Editor of British Vogue and she was putting together a new team. She put Lucinda Chambers in as Fashion Director and then she approached me about nine months later and asked me to go and join them. I was actually in two minds about what to do as I always thought that Vogue was where you wanted to end your career so at the beginning I turned it down and said I didn’t want to do it (laughs). I was in such a mess about it because I was terrified about what I’d do once I’d gone to Vogue. I always knew it was really the ultimate for me.

When the role at Topshop came along... the more I thought about it, the more I thought how interesting it would be to see whether anything I had from all that amazing experience I had would be of any value outside of Vogue. Ultimately, I felt that it was now, or never - that if I was ever going to do something different in my life I should do it now while I’m just about still young enough to have the energy and enthusiasm and the ambition to do it. Topshop’s always been around my world in fashion and I think the last 10 years have just been so incredible for the brand. It’s such an important part of British Fashion and for me, it ticked all the boxes.

My role at Topshop is… sprinkling fairy dust! Ultimately, I look at Topshop like I’m editing a magazine. I look at all of it and think do I love all of it? Do I love how all of it looks? I guess it’s helping to create that handwriting, making us grow as a brand, but making sure that we retain our unique personality.

For me, Topshop is… the place I'd do my trolley dash before the shows. I’d go to Selfridges and blow my entire budget on one Celine handbag and then I’d go and hit Topshop and pad out my wardrobe with everything I needed. In the end, the things that I always relied on were from Topshop. It has this unique position of being able to be a brand that can sit so comfortably next to your designer labels.

The thing that most excites me about fashion right now is… individuality - rather than being a slave to fashion trends – it’s all about the way we dress. If we look at what’s thrilling us, what’s exciting us, it is seeing what girls are wearing on the street – that’s how to find that real, individual approach to fashion. As Topshop, we want to give that girl that complete selection of everything to play with.

My Topshop essentials to pep up your wardrobe for SS12 are… bright knits, a smart baseball jacket, our embellished jeans. But really it should be a summer of dresses, being able to do that one-piece dressing.

I’ve never been a complete slave to fashion… I know what I like and what I need. I always invest in a nice handbag, shoes and a jacket. My ten wardrobe essentials are quite basic in a way and what I do is make them look refreshed each season. I use fashion as a way of enhancing that familiarity - I'll move into new colours, or new prints but silhouette and shape tend to be something I stick with. I like to invest more into tailored pieces – I totally see the relevance of a good tailored jacket and I really like the idea of mixing it with your jeans and your ballet pumps. I use jewellery quite a lot to turn things from day into evening.

My favourite city for Fashion Week is… if I’m really honest, London is my favourite, because I’m so passionate about the success of the British designers. I think that British fashion design is instrumental in shaping the whole face of fashion – I think we’re huge influencers and I think we’re incredibly modest about it. We are looked at for inspiration, for newness, as a style nation and I think people are incredibly curious at how we’ve done that without having the heritage. I don’t think there is anywhere like it in the world to be honest. There’s no other city in the world that you go to where every single day you see something amazing.

This London Fashion Week I’m excited about… the Unique show. It’s got a different feeling to it, a more real take, less fantasy. And then I can’t wait to get my hands on Mary Katrantzou’s printed trousers – some of those pieces are going to be so hugely successful and I now wish it was bigger.

The tips I’d offer for girls looking to start a career in fashion are… empower yourself with the knowledge of fashion - look at reference books, look at magazines, study the names, look at what’s new. Always have one eye on the future and one eye on the past. Put your sights on where you see yourself being and don’t ever give up on that.

Take a look at Kate's London Fashion Week survival edit and be sure to let us know what you love!

It was a cool, calm and collected parade of downtown girls on the Theyskens' Theory catwalk yesterday. Olivier Theyskens sent out urban staples for the style blogger set, such as butter-soft leather jackets, perfectly cut slouchy pants and streamlined blazers - all in a muted New York palette of skyscraper greys and blacks peppered with flashes of mustard and gold. 

Familiar "cool girl" silhouettes of baggy cropped pants or shorts, an oversize fur or leather top, and killer heels dominated, whilst luxe elements such as ethereal chiffons and gold-flecked tweed completed the Belgian designer’s vision of femininity, and reminded the audience of the delicate eveningwear forwhich he first became famous. 

Earlier this week, blogger darlings Rumi Neely and Bryan Boy tweeted about visiting the Theory showroom.  So maybe it's no surprise that besides their luxe freebie closet, Theory is using the runway to lure plugged-in It Girls to its doors. And after a show like this - filled with all the directional basics that the style set love to wear – bloggers and It girls alike are just going to have to get in line.