Alexander Fury defines the looks of the new season on the international runways — and we add our local picks.
FLOWER POWER
In the hands of talented designers, florals have finally managed to break new ground. That's not to say there weren't plenty of lacklustre designers chucking out predictable chintzy stuff, but the pieces worth noting felt fresh.
Simone Rocha chopped hers into individual petals, layered over shifts, neat suits and even brogues; Phoebe Philo scrambled florals together at Celine, sending blooms scribbling around the body in asymmetric ruffles.
Rei Kawakubo's explosive, scarlet-soaked show, with roses embedded deep in shredded red coats, was the season's most visceral statement.
There's nothing sweet about these flowers - and the resolutely raw, savage edge to designers' foliate designs is what keeps them feeling utterly contemporary.
Sprigged cottons, smocking, ruffles and even the dreaded dirndl. Today's fashionable women - or at least some of them - seem to be scanning far-off hilltops for lonely goatherds. Which is to say that a mood of countrified pastoralism is tingeing many collections. In the past, it's been dubbed "Boho" - but this incarnation is a bit slicker. No souvenir coin-belts allowed.
Valentino and Chloe both have the style rooted firmly in their past, and have mined it with gay abandon.
By contrast, Raf Simons at Dior harked back to Marie Antoinette - not only her grand court gowns, but in the simplicity of the white muslin dresses she sported while playing milkmaid in her "ferme ornee".
Of course, the people who will actually wear these clothes are making believe. Some designers were making believe, too: does Phoebe Philo really think well-dressed women will knot up their £3000 Celine coats with a piece of string?
Dries van Noten; Kate Sylvester; Louis Vuitton; Karen Walker. Pictures / AP, Supplied.
THAT 70s SHOW
What is it about the 70s that designers find so different, so appealing? Well, for Milan, it was a period when the dominance of its designers - Armani and Versace, mainly - threatened to topple Paris as the world's style capital.
The Italian collections were the prime stomping ground for the trend, the rhyming couplet of Gucci and Pucci sending out odes to drippy hippies and Studio 54 party girls. In terms of everyday wardrobe decisions, the 70s this season are punching decidedly below the belt.
The major impact consists of trousers kicking out from the thigh into a generous flare, rather than cleaving tight. We saw those at labels too numerous to list - some, such as Tom Ford, even reviving the skinny-thigh, bell-bottom. Oh, and did I mention the return of the platform clog at Prada?
Here: Kate Sylvester dress $345, scarf $145, socks $49, and heels $595.
COATS OF MANY COLOURS
Why yank patchwork out from the general peasanty, pastoral melee (see Country Life) for particular consideration? Because the mashing together of scraps of fabric doesn't always feel homespun this season.
Thom Browne created refined tailoring of patchwork so intricate and dense it frequently resembled print; Nicolas Ghesquiere's Louis Vuitton artfully danced between linear patches using textile texture and contrasting colours of eelskin to create slick graphic effects.
A few went organic, with Phillip Lim and Mary Katrantzou using whirly, rounded segments. And there was plenty of crafty patchy stuff, too.
Prada turned its patchwork inside-out, flaunting the scruffiness of all those seams, and although Valentino's was refined to couture quality, there was still a feel of the hand (the important part in all this patching) and folk - albeit four-figured.
There: Louis Vuitton.
Here: Karen Walker suede coat $3460, and pants $370.
