FASHION Musique at the Bridgewater Hall tonight - one of the highlights of Fashion Manchester - is designed to be a fusion of fashion and music, showcasing international, independent, high street and graduate designers in a unique show alongside national and local pop stars, DJ's and bands.

Bryan Ferry is probably one of the few men who could legitimately headline an event bringing together the complementary worlds of music and fashion, having been an iconic figure in both worlds for three decades now.

"Music and style have always been inextricably interwoven for me," he agrees, "ever since I first saw Bill Haley And The Comets! Of course, they look very tame these days, but at the time it seemed extraordinary to see these guys in matching suits playing this incendiary music.

"There were my early heroes, Otis Redding, Sam And Dave and those fantastic Stax Revue shows with that remarkable choreography.

Sharp

"Those guys looked nearly as sharp as they sounded.

"These days, of course, both popular music and fashion have become hugely commercial areas, which is why it's good that shows like Fashion Manchester are trying to boost some lesser-known and independent designers.

"Of course, there's still a huge overlap between the worlds of fashion and music but it does strike me personally as a bit depressing when so much of it comes from hip-hop culture and that whole thing of sportswear.

"Trainers and tracksuits aren't the sort of thing you're ever going to see me wearing on stage!"

As it happens, when we spoke Ferry was in the middle of poring over various historical shots of Roxy Music for a compilation album that's due out in a couple of months, so he'd actually been seeing photographs of himself that he hadn't seen for some while.

"I was surprised at how good Brian (Eno) looked in a lot of those pics but, yes, of course, there are some outfits of mine in there that make me cringe now," he laughs.

"But mostly, I think, we took some pretty good advice from some pretty good stylists. Overall, we put a lot of effort into looking good and, for the most part, it paid off."

Fashion Musique - Music and Style is at the Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, from 7.45pm. Tickets are '30-'40, with all profits from ticket sales going to the Manchester Kids Charity. It features Bryan Ferry, Lisa Scott Lee (from Steps), Veba and Performance playing live, as well as DJ sets from Siobhan Fahey (of Shakespear's Sister and Bananarama) and Only Child. Fashion designers featured include Armani; DKNY; Butterfly, by Matthew Williamson; J, by Jasper Conran; GS, by Gharani Strok; Floozie, by Frost French; and Rocha.John Rocha, plus Manchester independent designers Susan Atkins (Electricity); Sissy Rooney; and Louise Pike. The Ticket Hotline number is 0161 907 9000. Tweet