Going to a Topshop Unique show is like attending some fabulous tented party. Not only are all the cool kids there — Elle Fanning, Poppy Delevingne, Leigh Lezark, Derek Blasberg, Harley Viera-Newton, Pixie Geldof — but there are also glasses of champagne and mini strawberry tartlets being served to you as you come in.

Not that Topshop needs gimmicks in order to woo anyone. The brand has already built a solid reputation in the UK and abroad — and not just because of its snappy stores and chic ready to wear line. The brand has been incremental in the rise of London's up-and-coming designers via its sponsorship program NewGen, and one needs look no further than Erdem, Christopher Kane, and Mary Katrantzou — all former recipients — to see what a little help from Topshop can do. Judging by that, it seems this season's batch of NewGen designers Michael van deer Ham, JW Anderson, and Simone Rocha are off to a pretty good start.

And so, it shouldn't be surprising that Topshop Unique's collection is right on point for Spring 2013. Picking up where Fall 2012's military-utility themes left off, creative director Kate Phelan and team created pieces that felt modern and minimal, with just the right amount of sophisticated slouch. Sheer fabrics such as organza, devouré, and printed georgette offered revealing hints of skin on loosely tailored silhouettes and boxy pieces, while a color palette of cream, rosé, black, white, and pale canary yellow kept everything feeling clean and crisp. "Cool, easy, relaxed," Phelan explained to us backstage after the show. "The whole idea was to just not let the collection get too hard or stiff, but to keep it soft, to keep it easy, to keep it very slouchy and very real."

What's the point of fashion if it doesn't make a statement? For Spring 2013, Vivienne Westwood used her clothes to make some pretty big declarations: a select few in the front row were asked to wear t-shirts that proclaimed Westwood's support for Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks.

The clothes that came down the runway made a different statement altogether. "My job now gives me an excuse to talk about what I really care about — and that is the climate revolution," Westwood said. Her environmental stance was most evident in floral Stephen Jones headdresses that some models wore with their faces painted green or orange or yellow. The clothes were about sustainability in a different way: buying only the best and longest-lasting pieces when absolutely necessary. Stylized floral prints appeared on dresses with asymmetrical necklines and a '60s feel, a simple gingham was turned into a shift dress and a twinset, and pink-and-white striped print formed an almost sweet shirtdress.

Matthew Williamson is never one to shy away from bold prints and colors, and his Spring 2013 collection was no different. The designer sent down a bevy of eye-catching pieces that exuded a vibrant and exotic vibe: printed cropped pants, sheer blouses, colorful shorts, boxy jackets, and embellished minidresses. Silhouettes ranged from fitted and feminine to loose and boyish. Williamson ended the collection strong by showing off glamorous and ethereal gowns in bold hues, prints, and details.

If the tough leather harnesses, aggressively tailored dresses, and sporty black under-eye makeup the models wore during Marios Schwab's Spring 2013 made the designer look as though he's sending women into battle, it's because he is.

"We are warriors at the end of the day, all of us," Schwab said backstage after the show, explaining that this season is for him a reaction to the turmoil that surrounds the women who wear his clothing. And when could those women need shields more than now, with the Eurozone seeking a solution to its economic crisis and political unrest bubbling all over the world?

So to protect his customers, Schwab made pleated dresses that fit close to the body in shapes that resembled plates of armor and embellished shirts and other dresses with a metallic fringe that evoked the feeling of a tribal warrior. His shoes, fringed black leather affairs made in collaboration with Ancient Greek Sandals, helped carry that feeling to the ankle. Lace elements and crystal embellishments added a touch of femininity, but on long shorts that poked out from underneath dresses and skirts, even the sparkle looked like an extra layer of defense.

There was a definite sense of change and evolution in everything about Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi's Spring 2013 show for Preen. For starters, the duo arranged a runway in the Darwin Centre of London's Natural History Museum on Sunday, their first British show after five years of presenting in New York. (Bregazzi is expecting her second child with Thornton in the coming weeks, and wanted to move back home before her delivery.) If those elements weren't enough of a tip-off, the line itself was filled with reptilian materials — both real and printed on chiffon and georgette — that were often sewn together in Preen's signature patchwork style. A sheer crocodile-print shirt in white and navy was paired with a stingray-print skirt in the same color palette as the show's opening look. Subsequent ensembles folded in python, armadillo, and the season's requisite stripes. One sleeveless printed dress with a handkerchief hem combined all the scaly animals at once.

Thanks to the sheer, soft fabric choices, the animalistic pieces had a touch of femininity that helped them play well with the girlie rose-prints and solid tailoring that brought the evolution full circle toward the end of the show.