It's a celebration of British style heritage.

This season, our brightest young designers have rediscovered tartan, sending it proudly off down the runways in vibrant new colourways and cuts, showing the world what a statement check really looks like.

House of Holland presented short, sassy, rough-hewn looking shift dresses with mini trains in oversized tartan checks of iridescent purple, electric blue and bright lemon, while Matthew Williamson showed soft, grey swirls of cloth, shot through with flashes of coloured tartan-like check.

Vivienne Westwood has been at it for years of course – check out the new Vivienne Westwood Boutique opening this month on Blake Street in York, a fabulous addition to the city of history and culture. Tartan features heavily in her new collections for autumn, celebrating the heroic side to heritage-inspired fashion, as no one else can.

The new way to wear tartan is to mix it all up, teaming mismatched checks (check out D&G). Colours are vibrant, with violet, emerald, turquoise and orange giving the trend a youthful twist.

But it's not just for the young. This is an all-encompassing trend and there are a number of ways to wear it. There are longer-length dresses and skirts (like the long Per Una ruffled skirt featured here) and also wide-leg trousers and trouser suits in soft taupes and greys – great for a heritage-style office look. And the tartan coat is a key item for winter.

Mix tartans with tweeds, woollens (belted chunky cardis look great) and prints for an eclectic look. A tartan shirt or pussy bow blouse is a quick and easy way to update for the season, while a tartan dress, especially in red, takes rather more courage.

Accessories are a useful way to key into the look – look out for tartan mini-boots, bags, scarves and shawls. Those who delighted in tartan mini-skirts in the Eighties will be looking wistfully at the versions on the High Street now. Sadly, these are for the young – as in the under 30s – although, if you do have really great legs, you might get away with wearing a not-too-short version with a pair of black opaques and some knee-high boots, but keep the top half well-covered. Madonna would get away with it. I leave the mini-kilt dilemma in your hands.