Key Fashion Looks for Autumn/Winter 09/10

Balmain, Emilio Pucci, Emporio Armani, Blumarine, Roberto Cavalli, Givenchy,  DSquared2m  Luella, Giles , Gucci - there was a general lust for the 1980's, expressed in lame and colour and puffballs and big shoulders, real dressing up, especially at Marc Jacobs, also bling-bling beading and accessories, batwings, cobalt blue and fluoro colours,  big shoulders - and shoulder-pads - studded pelmet dresses and the kind of draping last seen on Krystle Carrington in Dynasty.
 

Antonio Berardi , Herve Leger, Sophia Kokosalaki   -  Body-con shapes in metallics are always a party piece, but gold and silver need not spell bling!  Berardi, for example, made a much miore subtle statement for urban, after-dark armour, by covering his sequins with tulle. At Herve Leger, the metallics were printed and embossed with python prints.

Yves Saint Laurent,  Lanvin,  Balmain  - whether a response to the recession or simply an understanding that an LBD will always sell, key designers incorporated new little black dresses into their collections; draping, one shoulder or one sleeve effects; acessorised with shrugs and jewels.

Jil Sander, Hussein Chalayan ,Preen, Narciso Rodriguez, and Victoria Beckham - clean, graphic silhouettes that look as if they were cut with a scalpel or a butter-knife.Generally in black and/or white, with flashes of orange, yellow, shocking pink. Back zips often detail the spine.

India (Balenciaga), Perisa/Samarkand (Dior), Ukraine/Turkey/Cyprus (John Galliano), Russia (Kenzo, Temperley), North Africa/Bedouin (Missoni), Marni (China), Mexico/Mongolia (Diane Von Furstenberg): Lands both fantasy and faraway provided fashion's escapism for next season, wondrous but almost always wearable. Influences included the alluring drape of the sari, for skirts, sarouel-trousers and wrapover tops, at Balenciaga, Ukranian brides and folkloric costumes which produced a feast of colour, embroidery, jangling silver coin jewellery and a silver/white finale, at Galliano; a colourful melange of tribal pattern and colour with leopard-print, feather accessories, pom-pom hats and sheepskin clogs at DVF; and fabulous layering in flesh tones, turquoise, beige and brown, with zig-zag and stripe-pattern knits, scarves, turbans and tunics at Missoni.

Burberry, Prada  - Christopher Bailey's aristocratic muse slipped a tweed, sheepskin or wool trench-coat over an empire line velvet dress, worn with dark hose and rubber-soled platforms; Miuccia Prada's  landed lady managed to look as if she could till the soil in a pair of tweed hot-pants, a tiny cropped cashmere sweater and thigh-high rubber waders. Either way, the collections expressed a nurturing, nod to nature in colours as vibrant as autumn (red/orange) or a moody, stormcast winter's day (pewter/navy/forest/mud-brown, khaki)

D&G  - Corset and crinoline time at D&G, with a romantic opera theme featuring bustiers printed with programmes for La Traviata and Turandot. tops printed with a photograph of Maria Callas, glorious swagged skirtsin velvet and tulle and shoes and evening bags trimmed with tassels.

Giorgio Armani, Lanvin, Dries Van Noten, Antonio Marras, Ferragamo, MaxMara, Betty Jackson, Nicole Farhi , Jason Wu, DKNY, Thakoon - inspired by the image of Michelle Obama,  the ideal working woman wardrobe was a key trend : soft-tailoring, lightly fitted dresses , shifts with matching jackets or softer, fuller skirts with jackets.

Comme des Garcons, Junya Watanabe, Tao - It's always worth keeping an eye on what the true avant-gardists are doing. Both Comme and Watanabe were looking at survival, comfort and protection; Watanabe used the down-filled duvet or sleeping bag as a starting point for a startling, mainly black, quilted, padded Michelin-Woman look; Comme mixed blankets and army khaki with soft, fragile flesh-tones. Tao, meanwhile, produced a collection partially inspired by Balkan national dress with overtones of Alice in Wonderland and Grayson Perry.

Yohji Yamamoto - exceptional tailoring, engineered with a magician's sleight of hand; Yamamoto cuts and curves a mean seam, almost always in black, but, for next season, including a healthy smattering of scarlet and pink, inspired by the solitary-seamed leather ankle boot made by Salvatore Ferragamo which led to his latest collaboration with the legendary Italian shoe brand.

 Rag & Bone, Balmain,  William Rast - denim in all its permutations from bleached and faded to distressed, blackened, studded and rivetted - then add waistcoats, T-shirts, tie-dye tunics, MX boots, moccasins, fringing and tons of attitude.