London Fashion Week opened with ultra-thin models on the runways — a clear rejection of arguments that waiflike models should be banned from the catwalk.

Spanish organizers at their fashion week in Madrid recently banned superskinny models, but 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 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.

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DEBATE GOES ON

The 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.

A-LIST STARS

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.

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