Summer sale mayhem

The Spring/Summer sales have started in London, filling the department stores and fashion boutiques with an enormous surge in shoppers, and many luxury stores operating an one-in-one-out policy.

Stores including Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Liberty and Selfridges offered significant discounts on luxury ready-to-wear, with up to 50 percent off designer's spring collections. Many items from brands such as Givenchy, Balenciaga and Lanvin sold out on the first day, with consumers eager to buy into luxury brands at half price.

Saint Laurent, at the point of writing, had not discounted its summer menswear in department stores, despite the new fall collection already hanging in stores.

With men's fashion week taking place in the city, stores were eager to show the first drop of the pre-fall '13 collections. Buyers from all over the world, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Colette, and Lane Crawford are in town to see the best of London's menswear for next season.

Images: Harrods Summer sale June 2013