New York fashion week 2012: the Marc Jacobs collection – in pictures

The catwalk's set design featured an elaborate, spookily half-built castle Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

The Marc Jacobs presentation was notable for its hats. Oversized hats, fur hats, face-obscuringly large hats; hats were ubiquitous Photograph: STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images

Glitzy, ritzy brocades were another trademark feature of the presentation, their rich hues rendered all the more striking against the backdrop of a castellated catwalk designed by the artist Rachel Feinstein Photograph: Louis Lanzano/AP

Jacobs cited fashion eccentric Anna Piaggi among his influences. And she loves a hat, does Anna Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

Jacobs is known for experimenting with tricky hemlines, and this season was no exception. The skirts fell below the knee and gently stood away from the hips in a manner that would be hugely unflattering on anyone above a size eight Photograph: Peter Michael Dills/Getty Images

Embellishment saved the skirts from a dowdy fate; they came in ritzy tinsel tweeds and paisley wool brocades, and were topped off with lurex tailored jackets and giant-sized embellished stoles Photograph: Peter Michael Dills/Getty Images

Asked about the eerie, partially-realised set that provided the show's backdrop, Jacobs explained that Feinstein had been 'thinking about ruins' Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

Every large hat deserves a large stole. The generously-proportioned examples on display at the New York State Armoury – many of them elaborately embellished – did not disappoint Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

The show will also be remembered for some stunning footwear. Pilgrim shoes were the order of the day, and this stunning pair came complete with a crystal encrusted square buckle
Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

Notable here is Jacobs' remarkable use of contrasting colours and textures to create … oh, who are we kidding? It's the hats we're going to remember, isn't it? Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

By the way, did we mention the hats? Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

One of the more demure (and wearable) outfits on display Photograph: Randy Brooke/WireImage

Visually arresting and extravagantly conceived and realised, the Marc Jacobs presentation provided a fashion fantasia destined to live long in the memory Photograph: Randy Brooke/WireImage