By Aimée Grant Cumberbatch
September flew by in a whirlwind of ready-to-wear shows, city-hopping, seriously high heels and several hundred espressos. From a sweet-shop worthy color palette at Burberry Prorsum, to Chanel's fine art fashion, the Spring/Summer 2014 Fashion Weeks were full of treats, trends and timeless pieces.
You might not have wanted to miss a minute, but it's easy to let a show or two slip through your fingers. Stay in the know for next season, with our edit of the runway hits....
Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2014 Round up
(01 of12)
For Karl Lagerfeld this season, the classic Chanel tweed was a literal blank canvas. As his paint-by-numbers pieces took to the runway, the whitewashed the walls of the Palais-de-Tokyo were the art gallery backdrop to a collection packed with pantone patches, visible brush marks and art girl accessories. Think spray-painted rucksacks with a couple of paintbrushes placed in the pocket to be slung over your shoulder on the way to the studio.See the show here.
Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane Spring/Summer 2014(02 of12)
If Saint Laurent Fall Winter 2013-2014 was a grunge girl, Hedi Slimane's Spring/Summer 2014 collection was a more mature rock and roll woman. Miniskirts there may have been, but not without a matching - and not to mention, sharply cut and styled - Le Smoking jacket to kick things up a notch. The only thing pointier than those mod-inspired skinny ties, were the Sixties shoes.See the show here.
Christian Dior Spring/Summer 2014(03 of12)
Florals have a reputation for tea-time and all things twee. But Raf Simon's floral explosion tested the Springtime favorite and took it outside its comfort zone, these were flowers with fronds wrapped around the models throats, oranges on electric blues, but they weren't quite running wild. Patches, suits and controlled cutting came to remind us just who was in charge here. And if that wasn't enough, then the contrast between tulips and text, that eternal marker of man, certainly did the trick.See the show here.
Burberry Prorsum Spring/Summer 2014(04 of12)
With an array of sugar almond shades on soft cocoon coats, cardigans and floppy fluffy clutches, Burberry Prorsum Spring/Summer 2014 was a sweet shop for the softly spoken. There were sheer dresses with a suggestion of a floral print, a whisper of wisteria if you will, unfurling from beneath cardigans and jumpers in school sweater grey. The models' legs were bare beneath the Burberry trench which, interspersed with a little latex, said warm but wet in a quintessential British summer of a collection.See the show here.
Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2014(05 of12)
Gold helmets met feathered skirts and fine fringing on Sarah Burton's warrior women, think space age but sumptuous. With bold use of crimson and cobalt blue, leather belted tops fit for a fashion battle and arms striped with gold bracelets, this was tribalism for 2014. If Fall/Winter 2013-2014 had an Queen Elizabeth-inspired feel, Spring/Summer 2014 was made for Princesses from another planet.See the show here.
Vivienne Westwood Spring/Summer 2014(06 of12)
High Priestess of punk, Queen of Quirk, the inspiration behind a Vivienne Westwood collection isn't always clear. Probably better then to sit back and enjoy the explosion of influences and cultural clashes that the designer brings season after season. This time we had influences from the Middle Ages, big hair, splatters of mud, Little Bo Peep, cats and of course a master class in cutting.See the show here.
Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2014(07 of12)
Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2014 was a lesson in controlled colour clashing. The show opened with subtle beiges and taupes luring us into a false sense of simplicity, with a purple panel or a pink accent hinting at what was to come. But the effortless ease of their pink/purple minimalist mash-up, didn't distract from the elegance of their oh-so-wearable separates. Next Summer, the Armani woman is pretty in pink and purple.See the show here.
Bottega Veneta Spring/Summer 2014(08 of12)
At Bottega Veneta Spring/Summer 2014 the focus was on fabric. Whether it was box pleat ruffles sumptuous in their simplicity or crushed fans of cotton, a color palette of black, white, muted olives, burgundy and back to black again took the spotlight off show and onto on the artful craftsmanship showcased on the clothes themselves.See the show here.
Dolce & Gabbana Spring/Summer 2014(09 of12)
For Spring/Summer 2014 we were back in Sicily, where else? But this time we came at it from a classic, even classical perspective. This made for Museum materials with Roman columns, coliseums and gold coins either scattered over sheers or turned into seriously statement belts. The florals seemed to grow on the fabric itself or else looked painted on by an old Italian master. Despite this, D & G's eternal strong Sicilian woman was not to be subdued, she was just as present as ever this season in the slinky skirts, sleeved corsets, subtly sheer black lace and, of course, scarlet.See the show here.
Rodarte Spring/Summer 2014(10 of12)
With crop tops and leather skirts slashed to the thigh, there was certainly a youthful feel to Rodarte Spring/Summer 2014. It read like a love letter to the States, with celebration of the Vegas showgirl in the swinging fringes, touches of Cali street style in the white and black backwards caps. A neon-lit backdrop gave the atmosphere of a downtown club, and combined with the lavish use of black leather, it was all deliciously grunge.See the show here.
(11 of12)
It would be easy if not obvious to go for pastels, but there was something grown up in the whites, the camels and the dusty blues of Michael Kors Spring/Summer 2014, nipped in by the most elegant of brown leather belts. With wide-legged trousers and short sleeved sweaters, we'll call it refined romance.See the show here.
Calvin Klein Collection Spring/Summer 2014(12 of12)
Raw not rough seemed to be the ethos at Calvin Klein. With unfinished edges and fringes of frays, it should have been unkempt, and yet Fancisco Costa's constant minimalism brought a meticulousness to the clothes that kept them on the refined side of messy. The cuts were clean, the shades, save for a gorgeous jewel green coat, were subdued and it was all so wonderfully effortless.See the show here.