The spring and summer trends you need to know about for 2017 ...
The catwalks at London, New York, Paris and Milan Fashion Week were awash with exciting new trends to try ourselves; from '80s-inspired shoulders, washes of fuchsia pink and canary yellow to new takes on sheer and ruffled textures.
Here's our run-down on what you need to know...
Bralettes
Miuccia Prada’s collection may have been about a return to “normal clothes”, semaphored in that opening knee-length black skirt, but she also threw in some left-field styling tips, namely: bralettes over buttoned-up shirts. (These cropped up again at Miu Miu, in the form of ruched Fifties bikini tops worn over utilitarian dresses.)
Perfect for those with a love of underwear as outerwear, Kendall Jenner's favourite piece of clothing is going to be everywhere for spring. They'll be strappy, as seen on the model herself on the Alexander Wang catwalk, covered in floral prints, as seen at Tory Burch and in luxe velvet textures like at Victoria Beckham.
Fuchsia-Pink
Think pink – but not sugared almond or dusty rose or sickly bubblegum. No, the Paris catwalks defiantly dictated fuchsia. It cropped up at Topshop on pointed stilettos, resurfaced at Bottega Veneta in the form of a hot pink leather mackintosh, then came out loud and proud at usually neutral Hermès, where it comprised a stunning tulle skirted evening gown. Valentino sealed the deal with its cape/dress hybrid, tight at the neck to elegant effect, and Balenciaga followed up by pairing it with purple Spandex.
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Pink - particularly of the fuchsia variety - flooded the catwalk at shows such as Celine, Valentino, Topshop Unique and Balenciaga. Whether you choose to layer lots of different hues over your separates like at Valentino, or colour block by wearing coats over statement dresses like at Topshop, you won't go wrong as long as it's pink, pink, pink.
Deconstructed Shirting
A trend that began in New York and didn’t let up. The best were oversized and loud at Marques’Almeida, one-shouldered and sexy at Victoria Beckham, naïve and eccentrically cut at Jacquemus. Monse, Tome and Alexander Wang also added spins on the trend, chopping them up and adding extra sleeves and collars and cuffs. Conclusion: if you don’t have a blue striped shirt in your wardrobe now, buy one, and do the buttons up wrong. Or wait until spring to buy the best.
Tulle
Calling all wannabe ballerinas: tulle will be everywhere next spring. Molly Goddard has built a brand on the fabric, and presented it in tutus of stylish navy and brazen party pink, but it was interesting to map how other brands took on this trickiest of trimmings. At Dior it formed the feminine counterpart to logo branding; at Dries Van Noten it added a dark surface layer to oriental florals; at Rochas it was flouncy and unapologetic in sherbet tones and frothy layers.
Sportswear
Maria Grazia Chiuri chose sportswear for her debut at Dior, taking the theme of fencing and rendering it utterly chic, if a little prescriptive. Gucci’s nod, having been decisive in recent seasons, was more cursory for spring, as Alessandro Michele put Seventies running leggings underneath elaborate floral and flouncy ball gowns. It was Versace who had the most fun with the trend, studding anoraks and tracksuit tops with crystals and pouring models into go-faster leggings and drawstring-pulled nylon. And the prize for the most unexpectedly fabulous accessory? The Teva-style flatform sandals. Race you to the checkout.
Shoulders
The '80s called, they want their shoulder pads back. The boxy shapes seen on the Balenciaga catwalk are likely to be too extreme for us mere muggles but more relaxed shapes at Chanel and Marni gave an insight into how we could take on the trend, too.
Sheer
Just when you thought we might take a break from see-through fabrics, the spring/summer catwalks happened and we saw a load more underwear and in some cases, none at all. Taking on a new form for 2017, think perspex trousers with longline tops and dresses as seen at Carven, crochet bottoms as seen at Burberry and fitted lace dresses loved at Dolce & Gabbana.
Stripes
From seaside to school to sailor and more - stripes were all over the SS17 catwalks in every beautiful form you could imagine. We particularly loved the pinstripes at Mulberry and thick stripes at Marques' Almeida, both of which were worn with a stripey boot for further contrast.
Single shoulder cutout
Waist-Cinchers
From left to right: Michael Kors Collection, Balenciaga, Chloé
