Pearl Harbour – Oh, the Dior show was so delicious! An ode to tropical seaside wear of bygone days, John Galliano’s collection invoked imagery to what life in Hawaii would have been like in the 50’s. With shorter skirts, that is.  

Colour Blocks – Jil Sander, a line usually known for its strict simplicity gave minimalism a run for its money. Stripes were giant, colours were big and bold, and silhouettes were loose and long. While some of these giant pieces would resemble day-glo potato sacks when donned by someone other than Freja Beha, creative director Raf Simmons really made the kooky colours and exaggerated sizes work on the runway.  

Fruitfest – Citrus seems to be so 2011, simply observe Stella McCartney’s presentation where the prints were all citrus-galore. Meanwhile, somewhere on the countryside, a woman with a large hat is wondering where her garden party tablecloth went. Over at Prada, Muiccia seemed to be monkeying around this season (insert “This shit is bananas” joke here). Expect banana-print tropical shirts and monkeys designs to be all the rage once the weather heats up.   

Fly fruit -There were also a few counts of fringe going on. Roberto Cavalli, celebrating 40 years of doing what he does, decided to tear it up a notch. The looks were frazzled, frayed and intricately so, with long stringy hair to match – a perfect way to say, “Hey look what I can do!” for the 40th time. Meanwhile, it seems like Ralph Lauren has been watching a lot of John Wayne films, his spring collection was all cowboys and Indians with suede fringe and big-buckled leather belts. Yeehaw. 

Garden party – Speaking of cows, D&G’s collection seemed very, erm, milkmaid-chic? A wonderful collection, but painfully whimsical. There’s only so many floral ruffles and candy-stripe bloomers one can take without yelling “GET THEE TO A MEADOW!” and banishing the gingham bandana-wearing models to the barnyard where they shall frolic for eternity. Equally whimsical but less farm-y, Erdem injected their spring collection with maximum florals. Their piece de resistance was a dark blue, lace ball gown, which, besides the very visible nipples, had a certain Carey Mulligan quality to it.   

Nuit Blanche – Has Alexander Wang stepped down from his post of prince of darkness? Probably not, but aside from a few pastel knits his runway was exceptionally white. Not being one for simple designs, the white simply served as a blank canvas for painterly details and cool, cool shapes. Over in Milan, Dolce & Gabbana opened the boudoir doors for a collection echoing vintage lingerie, with a black corset here and a leopard print there for good measure.    

Pins and Needles – Not too sure if the Burberry and Balmain clientele will want to embrace the studded, safety-pinned, punk as fuck quality of these two collections. But who wears labels to look rich nowadays anyways? Well, at least the safety pins are strategically placed in a way to show that not just anyone could have torn these jeans. Jean Paul Gaultier wasn’t going to let those two have all the punky fun, each model on his runway was equipped with a mullet reminiscent of Joan Jett from days gone by when mullets weren’t ironic.

by Elli Stuhler