Outlandish hair. Ridiculously impractical heels. Oh-so-many iPads. Once again, this past week has seen the return of the biannual craze that is London Fashion Week.

On Fleet Street, a gaggle of grey-clad lawyers and financiers trudge to their offices amid the humdrum of buses and brollies bumping into each other. Yet no more than seven minutes down the road rests Somerset House, a breeding ground for bloggers, models and fellow fashionistas.

I ventured into this sartorial shrine around lunchtime on the first day of LFW. The courtyard was already awash with photographers and show-goers, the former equipped with a multitude of cases, stands and magnification lenses; the latter invariably dripping in designer gear, a humongous hat or two obscuring the view.

The cobbled courtyard was also awash with rain. This has to have been the wettest fashion week on record. Forget statement shoes and statement skirts. The umbrellas on display here were the equivalent of statement rain shelters.

After taking advantage of the free-flowing “survival sweets”, courtesy of official LFW partner Swatch, I press-passed my way into the designer showrooms.

This is no exaggeration. Security guards literally clock you at every corner, ensuring the vault of fashion secrets remains largely impregnable for the general public.

Inside, however, awaits a vast array of colourful collections, from budding designers, young and old. Now this bit is important. Because everyone knows what London Fashion Week represents for young designers, straight out of Central, LCF, Maragoni or ESMOD. These talented twenty-somethings descend upon the city, eager to showcase their sometimes-wearable (often wacky) wares.

Yet what has caught my eye this season is a rather more timeless trend that is enjoying a comeback: the classic scarf. This quintessential Parisian accessory, once Hermès or nothing, is now finding new form. And it’s not the young ‘uns – the Topshop Newgens or the stars of Central Saint Martins – who have engendered this rebirth.

It’s the ladies of experience who are reviving the trend, making natty neckwear the ultimate style choice.

On my rounds of the showrooms, I had the pleasure of speaking to designer Emma Greenhill, a woman who has spent her years working in PR and as a creative director for big names such as Julien MacDonald. Now she has gone back to her roots, putting her degree in textile design back into practice.

Her enchanting scarf designs are based upon favourite book characters from often subversive novels. Nancy Mitford, Virginia Woolf and Oxford drop-out Evelyn Waugh all provide inspiration for Greenhill’s charming prints. Gatsby novelist F Scott Fitzgerald is also represented.

Another designer with a sterling career already behind her is Rosemary Goodenough, whose silk twill scarves and woven silk ties with free-moving knots are a triumph for modern design: the prints are digital reproductions of her own oil paintings.

These statement scarves will transform a muted outfit and brighten up any day, no matter how hard it rains.

Yet if “young and fun” is ever the best indicator of a true fashion trend, the latest collaboration between Atelier Swarovski and 2012 RCA graduate Emma J Shipley is absolute confirmation.

The successful scarf designer has launched a stunning selection of Swarovski snow leopard scarf rings. Dainty, dazzling and beautiful to behold, the next big thing could in fact be very small.