Perhaps it is because we've finally stopped fearing avian flue, or maybe it is just that all that luscious flora that has bloomed into fashion lately could not keep pollinating without some winged assistance - whatever the reason, this London Fashion Week felt like one for the birds, from overt inspirations, to fluffs of feathers. We take an amateur ornithologist's eye to some of the key collections.

The Emperor Penguin - Ann Sofie Back Atelji
Avoiding this season's ubiquitous brights Ann Sofie Back explored the Scandinavian concept of jantelagen this season, the cultural values that focus on the egalitarian suppression of the individual. Clean and crisp, almost two dimensional in its flatness at times, with wide sleeve details and whispers of not just uniformity, but uniform, the Atelji collection shared both the minimal lines and palette of an Emperor Penguin, and, in its theme, it embodied the bird's practice of equality in child rearing.

The Swan - Giles
The overt inspiration for Giles' SS12 collection - the swan - proved a motif that popped up not just in prints and dramatic headdresses, but subtly in the form of the frocks themselves. The swooping, curve coned lines of full skirts were drawn from the patterns made in the water as birds break its surface in landing*, while jolts of crimson in sunshades and ball gowns recalled the intimidating sense of sanguine power one gets from beady eyes and snapping bills. The range's nipped waists, delicate details and departure from the dark for something more illusive, yet not without its sense of danger,  had its origins in the effortless glide of both birds, and the society girls who've taken them as their totem. The legs may have been kicking out hard underneath, but on the surface, you wouldn't have a clue.

The Blue Jay - Erdem
Erdem turned back the clock on his muse by a few years this season, going from confident woman to a less certain, more nubile figure, with all the noisy, jaybird chatter that the sunrise of sexuality brings. But, like the blue jay, there was a clarity, a purity, to the notes, and a palette to match. Subtle peekaboos of chest, sheer textures and sharp, tiny shorts spoke of the transition from a young lady's Sunday best, to something distinctly more Saturday night. Erdem Moralıoğlu may be a Canadian working in Britain, but there was a certain buttoned-up-but-bursting effect to the collection, that speaks to good old fashioned American sexual repression.

The Lyrebird - Mary Katrantzou
Known for mimicking the sounds of construction sites, beeping trucks and the metallic scrapings of steel, the lyrebird serves as a living metaphor for Mary Katrantzou's theme of the interaction between machine and nature. In her collection this was expressed through blindingly bright prints, like artificially dyed fields of flowers, high saturation skies and folds of ribbon. That her elegant dresses, this time fitted more closely to the natural body than her previous, sculpted outings, possessed long flowing trails to add a sense of drama, like the mate-luring plumes of a lyrebird's tail, only added to the effect.

Pink Headed Fruit Dove  - Meadham Kirchoff
Bubblegum themes of ultra-femininity were rendered so intensely they returned to the wild in Meadham Kirchoff's most cheerful, yet oddly emotive outing to date. All puff and frill and kitsch and cake, the colours recalled a candy store theme, replete with smiling packaging. The intensity of bad taste with intellect reached its zenith in a series of shorn-off shotgun wedding gowns, that had the essence of a traveller-take on fairytale nuptials. And that's where the dove comes in - their release was not white and caged but rather colourful, untamed, and immediately ready to drop pips on your head.

Northern White Faced Owl - Richard Nicoll
Dreamstates and feelings that flutter in the night categorised Richard Nicoll's not-for-everyone, but to my eye inspired SS12 outing. Hints at classic, romantic yet inaccessible sleepwear were scattered throughout the range in diaphanous skirting restrained by hoops, while shiny plastic finishes held the sheen of an owl's glassy eyes. There was a crisp feel to the creations, which Nicoll always offers, but also a sense of strict, startling otherness.

The Love Bird - Jonathan Saunders
Left alone in a cage, a love bird will slowly go mad, plucking at its pretty feathers, pacing and squaking, missing its playmate. It was this cooped-up, housewife desperation that Jonathan Saunders captured in his range of prim frocks with printed hints at a spiral into madness. A palette that sat in feathery shades between pastel and bright added to the effect, while more relaxed cardigans and smart little trousers held the promise of a laid-back life of domestic bliss, in which entertainment is easier to come by.

The Paradise Kingfisher - Peter Pilotto
Inspired by a recent trip to Indonesia, but more intense than any of the ikat-appropriation offerings that have been so on trend lately, Peter Pilotto's slim-lined, bright hued SS12 outing had all the sleekness of form that a kingfisher does, whilst also sharing intense shades, and country of origin, with the bird. The print this season was more scale than feather, with both weaving and lace emerging only after a good once over from kaleidoscope eyes.  That Pilotto talent for making dresses that feel absolutely unusual - racer shoulders, peplums, sporty stripes of neoprene and wetsuit zip detailing - yet look so flattering they remain accessible, defined the collection's sharp-billed success.

The Cockatiel - Christopher Kane
The girl you hated in school was Christopher Kane's starting point for Spring Summer 2012, and everything from the mix of greys and pale, pretty shades to the sophomoric, sporty stripes along V-cut necklines spoke to that beguiling classroom pet that's as likely to nip your fingers as it is to give a cheerful chirp.  Thigh skimming hemlines added to the effect of a chick it would be fun to become, but perhaps a little shredding to get to know from the outside.

The Seagull - Mulberry
Inspired by summers at the English seaside (often with cloudy skies overhead), Mulberry's SS12 carnival of a collection had a kind of faded, tatty glamour that recalls instagram photography and memories of fish and chips spilled on the pier. Particularly impressive were the encrusted evening pieces, that featured outsized crystal starfish embellishments that clung barnacle-like to sequinned, beaded fabrics, and the applique laces that played to a similar theme. Parkas and khakis spoke to the ever present threat of English summer rain while sweet little swing coats had an air of nostalgia. The true seagull nature came out in the combination of raincoats with flowing, near-sheer tulle skirts, a high/low, casual/dressy collision that perfectly encapsulates Mulberry's br-It appeal. Why the bird metaphor? Because girls will flock to it.

*Thanks to Alex Fury of SHOWstudio for that tip