Having spent the majority of the recent fashion weeks bed bound with a nasty stomach bug, I have had to have a bit of a late catch-up on all aspects concerning the catwalk. The results of my 'oohing' and 'ahhing' are my various trend moodboards below; granted, they are rather selfishly geared towards my tastes, but I have at least attempted to categorize my haphazard preferences into definable groups. All in all, A/W 13-14 looks set to be a beautiful, albeit tonally muted one, with Paris Fashion Week predictively and justly conquering in my opinion.
 |
| I noticed a considerable movement towards simplistic ensembles that were worn with an air of nonchalance whilst still retaining a luxurious quality for the coming Autumn. Pheobe Philo depicted this perfectly at Celine, which sat comfortably between Valentino and Carven in terms of dignified charm. At LFW, both Zoe Jordan and J.J S Lee presented crisply cut collections which contradictorily illustrated that quintessential London cool. |
 |
| Leather textures for the coming year look set to be worn with a further sense of ease than that of present, with designer lines including 3.1 Phillip Lim and T by Alexander Wang being particular forerunners of this. Although Lim's ready-to-wear collection didn't quite have as much impact on me as his gorgeously wearable pre-fall offerings, the designer's signature contemporary cool was certainly in abundance. Similarly to leather, PVC is another fabric clearly progressing from its fetishistic roots; the material is undoubtably staging a comeback in all its 60s glory for Autumn, with Paco Rabanne and Topshop Unique using its shiny advantages excessively. |
 |
| The wonders of the two-piece were ascertained through many a collection for A/W. From Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton's jazz age reminiscent designs (Jacobs' directing for both labels was made explicit through their many similarities) to Simone Rocha and J.J S Lee's more contemporary approaches, the suit-skirt was certainly having a 'moment'. |
 |
| Another trend I picked up on for next season was a luxe-grunge, glamorous biker esque look. Rodarte's whole collection showcased this, with a Madonna circa Desperately Seeking Susan style being exhibited; I was very happy to see a return for the Mulleavy sisters to the punky essence of Rodarte that I fell irrevocably for way back in 2008 for their Fall collection. Karl Lagerfeld's designs at Chanel reflected similar rebellious notions, with models clad in thigh-high patent leather boots adorned with chains. Olivier Rousteing employed Balmain's signature sense of glam for his collection with incandescent metallics, whilst Paco Rabanne's use of chainmail brought upon similar sparkling notions. |
 |
| Sportswear still looks set to dominate for the coming season in all its minimal, paired down glory. The usual sporty suspects such as Stella McCartney and DKNY delivered excellently on this front, with Miss.Karan making use of the modernist impacts of the texture à la mode, neoprene, in her polished collection. Navy blue tones emerged as a defining shade for the sports luxe set, down and out in Paris and London; designers Christopher Raeburn and Dion Lee incorporated the colour during LFW, whilst both Julien David and Chloe made use of its brooding qualities during PWF. |
