Dice Kayek

A standout collection, this time from Dice Kayek another fairly new name. Co-founder and creative director Ece Ege was clearly obsessed by volume and layers. He rendered asymmetrical tiers, pleats and ruffles in denim and Swiss cotton delicately threaded with pearls.

Yannis Vlamos/Indigital.tv

We aren't always fans of Margiela, but we liked this somewhat inconsistent collection full of unusual shapes and textures. Deconstructed elements including raincoats that had been turned inside out, a neoprene wetsuit peeled to the waist to become a skirt or a chunky sweater-turned-shawl were clever touches.

Maticevski

After a slow start, Paris Fashion Week is up and running with shows from all of the usual suspects. We have decided to start with a less familiar name: Toni Maticevski, the Australian designer who is perhaps better known for his bridal gowns. His collection for Spring featured highly sculptural and well-crafted garments. Maticevski manipulated traditional fashion silhouettes to create feminine shapes that were a wonderful fusion of art and fashion.

Yannis Vlamos / Indigital.tv

Another vast collection from Milan and another one of several Italian collections that have their eye on the tropics for Spring.

No great departures from the House's usual aesthetic in terms of overt Italian references and, in particular, references to the South of the country.  This time however Dolce + Gabbana appeared to poke fun at the usual stereotypes and tropes found in Italian culture: a pizza advertisement was used on a minidress, gelato and various shapes and kinds of pasta formed the print on several dresses, while fish and flowers fought for equal billing on yet others. Of course everything was overwrought with embellishment but this was often tempered by the addition of a simple logo t-shirt. Our favourite looks were the ones that incorporated oversized, multi-coloured metallic paillettes on coats and dresses.

Kim Weston Arnold / Indigital.tv

A collection that reflected a lightness and old-world glamour from Ermanno Scervino where embroidered lace or silk organza dresses were adorned with flowers and topped with military velvet devoré  jackets.

Kim Weston Arnold / Indigital.tv

A huge collection from Antonio Marras who showed more than 70 pieces in this collection that was inspired by Malick Sidibé’s photos of nightlife in Bamako, Mali in the 1950s and 1960s.

Marras opened the show with denim pieces and Shibori prints that were layered and patched with dévoré lace. The next set of clothes were based around a gingham print that was mixed with coordinating florals and embellished with rose embroideries, raffia flowers and recycled metal pellets. The looks that closed the show included reconstructed, surplus Italian army parkas and other hybrid prototypes that had been made during the creation of the collection.

Umberto Fratini / indigital.tv

The Italians seem to be enamoured by a rustic view of the countryside (also see Daniela Gregis)  embodied by Blumarine's collection. Designer Anna Molinari sent simple but structured day dresses in muted tones of green, earthy brown and blacks down the runway. Eyelet lace and broderie anglaise added a lightness which Molinari mixed with raffia or straw accessories for texture. 

Kim Weston Arnold / Indigital.tv

We didn't want to like this collection, but we did. Versace eschewed the glamour of red carpet dressing and focused on relaxed dresses and separates in a deep, rich palette. They showed parkas, leggings and t-shirts threaded with drawstrings or held together by snap closures in technical fabrics.

Umberto Fratini / Indigital.tv

Perhaps taking its inspiration from the recently-completed Rio Olympics, Max Mara's show was athleisure with a tropical twist - what we would call Tropical Modern. The House cited the works of Italian-born architect Lina Bo Bardi who worked out of Brazil in the 1960s as its inspiration and who proved to be the perfect embodiment of Italy and Brazil. The models appeared from behind a brutalist concrete wall and traversed a long runway interspersed with greenery. The clothes consisted of coats, parkas and hooded jackets, jumpsuits made of technical fabric in a lush tropical prints often with grass-like 3-D texture.

Monica Feudi / Indigital.tv

For spring, Prada was a retrospective of sorts as designer Miuccia Prada took comfort in past while referencing elegance in the present. She showed chinoiserie pyjama suits, art deco prints and an abundance of ostrich and marabou feathers that were carefully chosen to add contrast. The delicate material showed up on sleeves, shoes and even handbags.