- More is more: a model on the autumn/winter 2018 Calvin Klein catwalk. Phototgraph: Estrop/ Getty.
In New York, fashion editors’ shoes were ruined by a popcorn floor at Calvin Klein; in London, the Queen was the guest of honour at Richard Quinn’s show; in Milan, there were flying drones at Dolce & Gabbana and severed heads at Gucci; while in Paris, the layering was so extreme it became a meme. After four weeks in four fashion capitals and hundreds of catwalks, the autumn/winter shows are over, but what will we be wearing next season? Here, we drill down on the trends to emerge from the womenswear collections.
Hi-vis and oversized
The elevation of the ordinary will arrive by way of hi-vis jackets in bold and bright orange next season, with Calvin Klein, Chalayan, Maison Margiela and Tibi all delivering outerwear in the the fluoro hue.
- Calvin Klein went full throttle with head-to-toe hi-vis. Photographs: Shutterstock.
Practical and punchy, this is one of the most impactful trends in a sea of subtlety. It was complemented by the other outdoorsy theme of the season: oversized coats. Balenciaga didn’t loosen its grip on the sub-category for autumn/winter 2017, and was joined by Phillip Lim, Dries Van Noten and Off White.
- Clockwise from top left: Maison Margiela, Balenciaga, Maison Margiela, Chalayan. Photograph: Shutterstock/Swan Gilet/PR.
Balaclavas and football scarves
- Gucci opted for full-face coverage and tasselled pompoms. Photograph: Filippo Monteforte/Getty Images.
We generally take what Raf Simons says as gospel and this season for Calvin Klein he has raised up the balaclava. His iterations of the headpiece were homely and hand-knitted, encasing the head and neck, while Alessandro Michele’s versions for Gucci (which came two weeks later in Milan) went one step further by adding pompom tassels and sizable statement earrings.
- Raf Simons’ balaclavas for Calvin Klein had homespun appeal. Photograph: Washington Post/Getty Images.
Matty Bovan’s had bite at his debut solo show, coming in a houndstooth print, while Preen By Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi softened its oft-edgy aesthetic by going down more of a snood route.
- Matty Bovan’s solo show featured balaclavas. Photograph: Neil Hall/Rex/Shutterstock.
Further south, football scarves are the fashion match of the day. It all makes sense in logo-mania world as few things afford more opportunity to splash a brand’s name or statement across it than those wrapped round the neck.
- (Left to right) Versace and MSGM both mined sports pages. Photographs: Shutterstock (left), Alessandro Garofalo (right).
At the shows, Henry Holland had the front row wearing their personalised ones (he sent out gifts beforehand); Massimo Giorgetti emblazoned his with alcoholic drinks and bar logos; Donatella Versace’s took on a varsity sensibility with a big V; and even Karl Lagerfeld was spotted wearing one backstage following his Chanel show. His, however, presumably won’t be for sale.
Heritage and inside out
- Chanel’s inside autumn forest at the Grand Palais. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock.
The Queen may well have attended only one show this season (Richard Quinn’s at London fashion week), but the presence of British heritage was felt keenly throughout the four-week fashion run.
- (Left to right) Prada and Depozo made their heritage prints statement. Photographs: PR (left), Shutterstock (right).
Windowpane, Prince of Wales and houndstooth prints, and checks and weaves dominated in varying degrees. They were bold, as at Givenchy, Delpozo, Loewe, Marques Almeida, Miu Miu and Self Portrait; subtle, as at Chanel, Erdem, MaxMara and No21; pretty on ruffles, as at Regina Pyo and Simone Rocha; and impactful on strong silhouettes at Balenciaga, Fendi, Prada and Gareth Pugh.
- The Gareth Pugh catwalk at London fashion week. Photograph: Niklas Hallen/AFP/Getty Images
- Jonathan Anderson’s AW18 Loewe collection. Photograph: Manuel Braun
Never mind turning things around – designers were preoccupied with turning them inside out. Stella McCartney, Carven and Loewe all entered the fray with visible quilted lining, patch pockets and long wide thread, which was deliberately trailing and loose.
- (Left to right) Carven and Stella McCartney turned things inside out. Photographs: Marcus Tondo (left), Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images (left).
This deconstructed theme – which has an art-school-meets-old-school Margiela vibe – was seen keenly at Carven, where dresses had visible stitching and looked back to front, blanket coats had inverted seams, and fabrics looked as if they had come from a Saville row cutting-room floor.
- Sequins on the Marni runway with a deliberately deconstructed feel. Photograph: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images
Yellow
- Wigs at Jeremy Scott. Photograph: Randy Brooke
Fashion is feeling optimistic if the plentitude of yellow on the catwalk is anything to go by.
- The future’s bright: models on the Marc Jacobs and No. 21 runways. Photographs: Randy Brooke/Wireimage (left), PR
Collectively, patent-leather skirts at No. 21, suiting at Bottega Veneta, pill-box hats at Moschino, wigs at Jeremy Scott, coats at Marc Jacobs, knitwear at Tibi and acidic leopard print at Tom Ford delivered a healthy dose of the sunshine shade.
- A look from the Roksanda show at London fashion week. Photograph: Niklas Halle’N/AFP/Getty Images
This is a trend that excels when applied to occasionwear – waterfall ruffles at Delpozo and quirky, gathered tulle at Roksanda proved that.
Photograph: Estrop/Getty Images
Americana
- The Isabel Marant show. Photograph: Estrop/Getty Images.
The Americana theme that dominated the shows in September carried on into autumn/winter 2018. Shirts and dresses at Chloé took their lead from western shirts, denim jackets were embellished at Coach and Isabel Marant went the extra mile with thigh-high leather cowboy boots, given a directional twist with her signature cone heel.
- Natacha Ramsay-Levi’s second collection for Chloé had a retro Americana aesthetic. Photograph: PR.
Photograph: Estrop/Getty Images
- (Left to right) Isabel Marant’s directional take on the cowboy boot and western influence at Emporio Armani. Photographs: Ludwig Bonnet-Java (left) Estrop/Getty Images (right).
At No. 21, red and black plaid shirts also gave a nod to the trend, as did rodeo motifs which were depicted in all-over sequin embellishment – creative director Alessandro Dell’Acqua has clearly been listening to Rhinestone Cowboy.
- Models take a selfie backstage before the Preen by Thornton Bregazzi show. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/PA
Designers were getting busy with it when it came to prints. Erdem’s beautiful florals were moody, while Preen by Thorton Bregazzi’s were romantic; elsewhere, Givenchy delivered abstract swirls. Marques Almeida’s prints were arty also, like a moodboard collage; JW Anderson created a contemporary take on paisley; while Victoria Beckham tricked the eye with fake-fur effect.
- Erdem’s darkly romantic florals. Photograph: Estrop/WireImage.
- (Left to right) Margaret Howell strayed from its minimalism to introduce a maximalist print, while Marques Almeida went down the collage route. Photograph: Shutterstock (left), PR (right).
Even Margaret Howell, which is renowned for its minimalism, sent a symmetrical floral pattern down the catwalk. But the most high-profile delivery of them all came from Richard Quinn, whose signature print-emblazoned scarves, dresses, boots and helmets were received with a smile from the Queen sat in the Frow.
- Queen Elizabeth II sits beside American Vogue editor Anna Wintour to watch the Richard Quinn show. Photograph: Yui Mok / AFP / Getty Images
Wipe down
- Details at the Marni show. Photograph: Estrop/Getty Images.
High-shine fabrics of the wipe-down kind were out in force, seen on belted trenches, shirt dresses and boilersuits. They came stiff and structured in the form of coats at Miu Miu and Marni, while Gareth Pugh and Dilara Findikoglu went for full ensembles in bright blue and jet-black respectively. Simon Rocha was, as ever, to be relied upon to make a statement sweet, adding dropped shoulder ruffles to her double-breasted coverups.
- Keep it clean: Miu Miu and Simone Rocha. Photographs: Rex / Shutterstock
- Tod’s and MSGM got the wipe-down memo. Photographs: PR (left), Alessandro Garofalo (right).
