The trends from spring’s runway shows.


Say bye to short skirts and hello to the 1970s. Really  move away from black and get creative with color.
The spring runway shows are over in New York, Milan and Paris, it’s up to department store fashion directors and boutique owners to enclose the big ideas.

Chanel’s garden party, Balenciaga’s punk brigade and Marc Jacobs’ 1970s show were all unforgettable on the runways, but will they make it to store racks? Here, retailers offer their takeaways from the season and ideas about how the trends might drop down to you.


Ken Downing, senior vice president and fashion director, Neiman Marcus 

Big idea: The vintage Yves Saint Laurent effect, fueled by the major YSL retrospective exposition that just closed in August in Paris. On the runway, designers nodded to Saint Laurent’s rich peasant look, Orientalism and “le smoking”.