You might wonder why we should care about the spring/summer 2011 collections of a few hundred designers in New York, Paris, Milan and London. It is, after all, six months before they reach the shops (apart from Burberry, which again allowed straight-from-the-catwalk ordering after the show). But while ostensibly the fashionistas are worrying about hemlines and heel heights, in fact they function a little like economic savants. The results of their graft are often uncannily accurate social predictors - the famous hemline index (as hemlines rise, so does the economy) usually holds true.
And in six months, if the collections of this season are to be believed, cautious optimism will be the prevailing mood, as indicated by the just-below-the-knee skirts and mini shift dresses, the blasts of bright, neon colour among the the neutrals, and a carefree, relaxed St Tropez attitude. There was a little more fun to be had than in the dark winter season - the dreary, sombre calf-length pieces having barely lasted the six months since the autumn/winter 2010 collections - yet designers were aware that the people with enough money to spend on designer clothes are, in fact, grown-ups.
That meant many of the skimpy, va-va-voom styles we've been seeing in recent seasons were abandoned in favour of an intelligent mix of interesting cuts (the curved shoulder of the raglan sleeve being ubiquitous), wearable colours and forgiving, sophisticated fabrics ranging from the workwear of Derek Lam's bleu de travail to the flowing chiffons that remain a favourite for eveningwear. Jean Paul Gaultier's unobtrusive use of a plus-size model (in addition, of course, to the giggling pop star Beth Ditto) and Karl Lagerfeld's return to the veteran models Stella Tennant and Inès de la Fressange were not-so-subtle proof that their clothes were designed for women other than skeletal 14-year-old giants. Proving that practical is in, high necklines were to be found even at that bastion of voluptuous womanhood Dolce & Gabbana, It was the exotic fabrics - animal prints (Louis Vuitton, Burberry), painterly florals (Dries Van Noten, Chanel), bright colours (Dior, Prada) and Japanese prints (Christopher Kane, Kenzo).
An eclectic mix of minimalism and defiant creativity, then, but there remain certain trends that defined the season.
