Of Fur Collars and Leather Details

If you've arrived here via my tumblr then you will see that fashion and creative styling are big passions of mine. Not that I intend to go into the business, or become a solely fashion based blog, but never the less I still find myself buying Vogue UK, Vogue Espana, Elle UK and i-D magazine whenever there's a new issue. I always enjoy looking through the new collections online, and right now it's pre-fall 2012-13. The pre-collections always feel slightly out of place to me, especially when i've only just got my head around all the Spring-Summer collections enough to plan my summer wardrobe. Often I get left behind, gawping at pretty pictures of last year until I forget the pictures coming up this year.

So here i've been, drinking lots of coffee and nibbling on Spanish omelet (best food in the world, by the way) as I look for my favourite pieces. Since there are so many lines i've tried only to include those which reflect my own style and tastes in some way. All of which feature a lot of noir, androgynous looks. Go figure.

First is this look from Celine, the French label that has entranced me with their timeless, clean and elegant designs. This one, above, works brilliantly as a bridge between the seasons, carrying across the "fetish-lite" leather detailing trend of Winter 2011 into next year, yet keeping it simple for the autumn moves with it's classic shift-dress silhouette. With the leather collar, pockets and spray-on leggings, it could all prove too extreme, but this is avoided through a clever merging with that other popular look, boyish androgyny. This is an outfit I would kill to own, and then never take it off. Ever.

Or maybe I wouldn't, if I could also wear these ultra-comfy looking layered looks from Giorgio Armani. I love everything about these outfits - the fur, the 80's quiffs, the pussy-bow. I might make it my mission to find a similar long fur-trimmed coat by winter.

More fur, from Prabal Gurung. The fur trend has been huge this winter, particularly seen in the revival of full retro fur coats in garish leopard prints, seen on every hipster walking down the high street. Thankfully, this looks set to calm down, concentrating instead on bringing fur to one small element of an outfit, making a simpler and more laid-back style statement.

What can I say? These floaty dresses by Theyskens' Theory are just dreamy - part gothic fairytale, a look like this is perfect for strolling around a park, preferably with long wispy hair and bare feet. 

And finally Helmut Lang. I adored their use of structured layering in the 2011-2012 Fall-Winter show, and they've got me all excited for the next one! They seem to have mastered the blazer-and-leggings look, and still retain a fresh sense of femininity through flowing hems and lapels, off-setting the masculinity of the overall look.

So there they are, all my favourite pieces! The pre-collections twice a year have been consistently developing into bigger, more complicated lines, almost rivalling the feature collections. I don't think it's necessary to keep up to date with every single label and collection (unless you work in the business, obviously), but with each new line comes new wardrobe inspiration, and as we're entering a new year, it can be fun and refreshing to re-work your favourite (or even hated, barely-worn) items of clothing in new ways. I know I certainly need to move away from the boring, go-to pieces and try something new.

Coming soon: My style icons - men and women

All images sourced from Vogue Italia