Designer spearheads West End comeback: New money and high glamour combine on Old Bond Street. Alison Veness reports

The flags are unfurling in the wind, the plaster porticos are spick and span, two women click- clack down the road in their spindly Manolo Blahniks, they pause at Chanel, surreptitiously checking their reflections, then move on and into Versace.

Chauffeurs stand idly by their BMWs, elderly gentlemen carrying rolled umbrellas peer into galleries and wander on down the street towards Fortnums, to take tea. Life on Old Bond Street is leisurely. It is entrenched in old money but now there is a whiff of new money too.

The established stalwarts like Cartier, Tiffany's and Asprey are about to be joined by some of the biggest names in fashion.

There is talk of the good times and there is talk of high glamour - the like of which has not been seen here since the 1970s. A time when Mayfair was seriously stylish and Bond Street, Old and New, was filled with clothes shops, shoe shops and jewellers. A time long before the tackier traders on Oxford Street with their cheap tat brought much of the West End to its knees.

Last week, Caroline Charles, the British fashion designer, spearheaded the comeback. Her smart shop, snuggling up to Aspreys resembles a cool nave, the ultimate place to worship at the high altar of deliciously expensive consumerism, dresses pounds 390 upwards.

Hard on her heels are the Americans, seduced by the traditional prestige of a name like Bond Street and the old world glamour that it still evokes.

The original American in London was Ralph Lauren who has been in New Bond Street for 13 years. In September, Donna Karan will join him, opening a four-storey, 12,282 square feet, extravaganza of DKNY merchandise, plus a coffee bar.

'I had a spiritual feeling when I saw the store, it reminded me of home and the feel of the street reminded me of DKNY on Seventh Avenue. There is a fabulous energy in London,' says Donna Karan.

There is talk too, of Calvin Klein. There is a large site recently vacated by Barclays Bank which could easily accommodate all those Calvins.

Part of the appeal is that W1 is cosmopolitain, it attracts a mixture of customers from Japanese tourists to art dealers. It is also worlds away from SW1 and the nouveau riche Sloane Street set and far enough away from Harvey Nichols, the store which has gone off the boil, which isn't so absolutely fabulous after all.

Liberty on Regent Street is now the place to be seen, as is Vivienne Westwood's shop on Conduit Street, just around the corner from Hermes and Valentino. 'Once word gets out in the fashion business, hot designers hit the hot streets,' says Caroline Charles.

Hottest of them all however - and king of glamour - is Gianni Versace who spotted the potential of Old Bond Street two years ago. He spent millions of pounds refitting an old bank.

The acres of marble, gilt and the electrifying prices of his clothes (average price pounds 700) were much criticised at the time, but in retrospect it now seems that his bold move into what was then a rather fusty area paved the way.

Stephen Marks, chief executive of Nicole Farhi, which has 10,500 square feet of store opening in September says: 'I hope it will become the Knightsbridge of the West End, something a bit special. There may be a few empty shops at the moment but once they fill up it will certainly be a unique place.'

Giorgio Armani is rumoured to be looking, he had better hurry.

(Photograph omitted)