What we learned from London Fashion Week

A ruff return, mellow yellow and tiny nostalgic Nineties sunglasses are just some takeaway trends (All photographs by AFP/Getty)

As the penultimate day of fashion week kicks off, the capital looks set to wave goodbye to the style set until February – but what exactly have we learned so far from the extravaganza?

While it might seem premature, to stay ahead of the fashion curve and find out what’s in store for our future wardrobes we take a look at the key trends from London’s spring / summer 2018 shows.

2017’s new supermodels were out in full force

All of the modelling industry’s big names were there this season, from Hailey Baldwin at Matty Bovan, to Adwoah Aboah at Burberry, not to mention Donatella Versace’s Versus show.

But, it was talented teen Kaia Gerber that really kicked up a storm. A dominant force at NYFW, the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford walked for Calvin Klein, Alexander Wang and Rihanna’s Fenty x Puma show.

In London though, 16-year-old Gerber made her debut on the Burberry runway with her brother, 18-year-old Presley, in tow.

The return of ruffles

One of last season’s biggest trends, ruffles, are back for round two. If you’ve followed the show reports, you’ll be well prepared for next spring’s revival courtesy of pretty much every designer.

This time though, there was no such thing as a casual acceptance of ruffles. At Simone Rocha, virginal white gowns were designed with frills so big they were collapsing to the floor. Elsewhere, Ryan Lo used them to decorate evening gloves, while at Preen by Thornton Bregazzi ruffles formed all-over cascading tiers on asymmetric pastel dresses.

Whether you want to or not, you’ll be wearing yellow

A definite departure from the standard uniform of navy, black and grey, yellow ran the gamut on the runway, with an option out there for everyone: fizzy sherbet, mustard and Fifties lemon included.

Spicing things up with bold shades, the colour appeared on tailored suit jackets at Molly Goddard, pleated shirt dresses at Ports 1961 and all manner of dots, blooms and Trompe L’oeil prints at Mary Katratzou.

No fur fashion week

(AFP/Getty Images)

Anti-fur protestors have been making their presence known at London Fashion Week since its opening day, but on Saturday they reached fever pitch brandishing placards and megaphones outside the Burberry show.

Shouting “shame on London Fashion Week” as editors, guests and A-listers including Naomi Campbell, Jourdan Dunn and Kate Moss arrived, eventually police and security guards were forced to form two human chains.

Although it is understood that no real fur was used in Burberry’s September 2017 collection, fashion week attendees were warned by the British Fashion Council not to wear any kind of fur.

“We have been made aware that there might be fur protesters outside ... on the afternoons of Friday, Saturday and Sunday of London Fashion Week,” they said.

“We are managing the situation by working with the Metropolitan police to ensure the demonstration is managed correctly and with limited impact. For this reason, we would advise you to avoid wearing any kind of fur – real or fake – on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”

The smaller the sunglasses, the bigger the impact

Just as you thought designers were running out of trends to retrieve from the Nineties, another nostalgic piece has made its way to the fore – teeny tiny sunglasses.

On the back of It girls like Selena Gomez, Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner, micro-frames ruled the runway at Surpiya Lele and Anya Hindmarch. At the former, outfits were accessorised with super-slim sunglasses that, while not entirely practical for UV ray protection, might already be on your wish list.