LONDON, England (AP) -- Ultra thin models walked the runways at London's Fashion Week on Monday, opening the weeklong event with a clear rejection of arguments that waiflike young women should not be permitted to showcase designs.

Despite a ban on superskinny models imposed by Spanish organizers at their fashion week in Madrid, slinky women in London were ready to flaunt the spring and summer collections of designers such as Julien Macdonald, John Rocha and Zandra Rhodes.

The British capital was hoping to recapture a bit of bling and ditch its reputation as the poor cousin of more glamorous events in New York, Paris and Milan, Italy.

"We are not a traditional capital for fashion, but we are a very creative crucible," said Stuart Rose, chairman of the British Fashion Council, which organizes London's twice-yearly Fashion Week.

Paris-based Garen Demerdjian, a Lebanese-Armenian designer, presented a layered look with shorts and skirts over long leggings, high cinched belts and leather jackets.

His models, stone-faced with tangled hair, walked slowly down the catwalk sporting hues of brown, green, apricot, black and silky white amid flashing lights and trancelike music.

Later, John Rocha presented a collection of cropped cargo pants, silk shirts and parkas in shades of black, ivory, stone and khaki.

On Tuesday, designer Bella Freud was set to relaunch iconic 1960s label Biba, pioneer of caftans and flamboyant scarves.

A-list stars including Beyonce and Alicia Keys were expected to attend the Emporio Armani catwalk show Thursday. U2's Bono was expected to be on hand to help launch Armani's Red collection, which will give a portion of its profits to help fight AIDS in Africa.

Kate Moss added star power by sitting in the front row at a pre-event show for British retailer Topshop on Sunday, alongside its billionaire owner Philip Green.

'Stick-thin is damaging'

A debate over whether models were too thin has raised London Fashion Week in the headlines, with a government minister's calls to follow Madrid's lead and ban extremely thin models from the catwalk.

"The fashion industry's promotion of beauty as meaning stick-thin is damaging to young girls' self-image and to their health," Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said Saturday.

Rose dismissed calls for a ban as "a knee-jerk reaction," but said the debate was a legitimate one and that he would discuss the issue with colleagues. Fashion Week canceled its opening photo shoot to avoid giving the issue more publicity.

"I think that it's a debate that will happen all in good time, and all opinions are welcome," said supermodel Erin O'Connor.

The event, which runs through Friday, has long been known as a venue for seeing cutting-edge work from creative, young British designers, while the big fashion houses tend to showcase their wares in New York, Paris or Milan.

This year, though, there is an air of excitement around the spring/summer collections from designers including Jasper Conran, Paul Smith and Betty Jackson, and new talents such as 23-year-old Christopher Kane.

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