Model's Designer Clothing Auction Yields Some Great Bargains

British model Erin O'Connor generously donated more than 30 items from her covetable high-end clothing and accessories collection for auction at Christie's, and it seems some lucky bidders went home with a deal of the century.

The auction took place yesterday at Christie's South Kensington auction house in London to raise money for young fashion talent, and a browse through the results on their website shows it was indeed worth showing up for. Not to suggest the model was thought to be simply ridding her cupboard of designer cast-offs - a preview of the lot revealed Rouland Mouret's famed Galaxy dress in blue, and the list of labels read like a post-fashion week collections wish list, never mind gifts of Chanel from Karl Lagerfeld -  the lucky bit was that several of the stunning items went for the price of a pair of trendy jeans. A red silk Diane von Furstenberg cocktail dress sold at £138 and an Alexander McQueen dress and jacket were a steal at £250 (okay, two pairs of jeans). And there were enough Chanel and Louis Vuitton bags at (comparatively) good prices to provide thrills to some young ladies looking to start their collection.

Despite the deals, most of the items sold for at least the low-end of the estimates (which were set on the conservative side). But any chance of merely borderline success was happily quashed when the appreciation of an embroidered Ralph Lauren 'Graydon' jacket created a bidding war that resulted in a selling price almost three times the high estimate, at £1375. And shockingly, O'Connor parted with a watermelon-hued Chanel 2.55 (is she mad??), which not shockingly, fetched three times the high estimate, selling for £1500.

So, some lucky fashionistas went home with great new additions to their wardrobes and by doing so, have supported the British Fashion Council - thus helping Britain to continue to churn out more great design talent (and maybe get the Council a Web site).