IT'S been 51 seasons and 25 years in the fashion industry for London-based label Antoni & Alison.

"Someone told me I ought to look at Alison's work and that they thought that we'd really get on.We then ended up at a boat party and were both trying to get off," recalled Antoni Burakowski, one half of the design duo alongside Alison Roberts."It was a bit like finding a soul mate," he said.

"I was so shy and thought that he was so marvellously stylish," added Roberts, who was studying Fine Art at Central Saint Martins at the time while Burakowski was studying Fashion."She was doing the course I should have been doing," joked Burakowski.

£200 later, and with some help book-keeping from Roberts' dad in the beginning, the duo were on their fashion way.

"We lived in a flat with no phone so we had to use the phone box around the corner.We also had a typewriter that said 'Erica' on it and that became our PA!" described Roberts of the early days, which soon moved onto their first studio being above a kebab shop.

But from kebabs to collections, it was all part of the fun for Antoni & Alison whose first collection made its debut in 1987, Be Happy, for spring/summer 1988.This year the duo opened both seasons at London Fashion Week, bringing with them a brass band for the latest spring/summer 2013 collection."Fashion is wonderful because it makes us make new work," says Burakowski.