Spring 2013

Our tailored staples are getting a candy-colored wash for Spring. Pringle of Scotland kept it simple in silhouettes but told a vibrant color story with primaries and pastels (and sweet side-swept ponytails and red lips) indicative of a retro girl. Pullovers and cardigans were reworked in cobalt and a splash of marigold, just as the lineup of slim trousers, pleated skirts, and easy sheath dresses were. What set them apart was the attention to detail — embellishments, even appliques on sheer tunics (worn over pants), asymmetrical hemlines, and a flash of metallic accents that gave the line's polished fare contemporary confidence.

• Trends: Metallics, brights, colorblocking, sheer, dresses over pants.
• Colors: Silver, beige, black, bright yellow, cobalt blue, and fuchsia.
• Key Piece: The metallic and colorblocked trousers were a cooler, contemporary counterpart to the preppier staples.
• Accessories: Colored and metallic pointed-toe pumps, metallic belts.
• Who Should Wear It: This is for the preppy set — we could see the printed miniskirt and black peplum-style top looking sweet on Emma Stone.

Giles Deacon played with an array of fabrics for Spring 2013: leather, silk, satin, and even denim. Laser-cut leather dresses were one of the standouts in the leather department, while denim suits and bustier-style dresses lent an air of casualness amid fancy fabrics. The color scheme was mainly black and white, with pops of tan and soft blue. All the models wore bright pink lipstick, giving each look a playful touch. Dresses ranged from ethereal and flowy to retro and flared, to all-out poufy. At the close of the collection, embellished maxi and mini gowns shined bright and stole the show, as did a few over-the-top hats that the late Isabella Blow would have no doubt gushed over.

Fringe was a huge story on the Mark Fast Spring 2013 runway, but not in the way you would expect it. Fringe has never been so funky — floor-sweeping fringe capes, fringe vests, fringe wraps, bell-sleeve fringe minidresses, and sheer fringe dresses dominated. Other standouts included a high-low anorak, colorful cutout minidresses, netted skirts, sheer dresses, and matching cardigan and miniskirt sets. Gaudy gold baubles, including chain necklaces and oversize hoop earrings, as well as short frowy hairdos added to the unapologetic drama.

That didn't take long. Less than a week after its debut in the Spring 2013 show, the Proenza Schouler Record bag — a flat envelope shoulder purse sporting some serious hardware — is already available for preorder on proenzaschouler.com. And though the expected delivery date of March 31st may sound far off, we're willing to bet that this bag — with its clean-lined silhouette and sharp, geometric prints — is so chic it may just be It come next season.

This season, Christopher Bailey's never-ending quest for inspiration via the Burberry archives yielded a century-old image of capes and, believe it or not, corsets. The result was a sassy lineup that referenced both — and it came slickly packaged in an array of high-shine, candy-colored hues.

The label's signature trench coat was reimagined in sateen, lace, leather, metallic, and plastic, while bright berry, kelly green, electric blue, and fiery copper gave the collection a playful edge. Standout pieces were dresses and coats cut in corset-like silhouettes; with the addition of boning, they felt sexy and fresh.

Today, designer Christopher Bailey cemented his place — in our minds — as a genius. Here's the thing (or a few things) about the Burberry Prorsum Spring 2013 lineup you should know right off the bat. We couldn't stop uttering "we want that," we're nothing short of obsessed with the femme-fatale trench makeover, and we couldn't contain our giddiness at the sight of the show's rainbow-metallic coat parade closer. Check out all the pictures from the Burberry Prorsum show now and come back soon for our full rundown on why this collection made us swoon.

Liberal splashes of neon and wide swaths of python snaked their way into Erdem Moralioglu's Spring 2013 collection, largely replacing the deep blues and somber purples this designer has used in his past few outings.

The resulting lineup of dresses might have been a bit loud if anyone else had designed them, but these were pretty verging on confectionery and unabashedly feminine — as Moralioglu's designs usually are. Plenty of lace helped ground the wild new elements in that feeling: A long-sleeved shirt made from a light blue version of the material was paired with a yellow box pleated skirt that revealed panels of snakeskin as the models came down the runway. Neon orange and pink embroidery showed up as accents on garments of all types, and the sheer shoulder of one yellow dress was dotted with baguette-shaped neon yellow plastic accents.

Speaking of sheers, Moralioglu may have mastered their use in a transparent shift dress embroidered with pink stones that covered up a baby blue bralette top and hot pants, or as a horizontal panel on a full-skirted cocktail dress that exposed the lining beneath.

Alexa Chung dubbed it "eyeball heaven" — she was right. If we were summing up Erdem's Spring so succinctly, we too would call it just that, heavenly — but we'll elaborate. It's not just pretty: this season, Erdem's ladylike sheaths and lace get a touch of the exotic and the contemporary. The soft blues and yellows on slim pencil skirts and dresses are spliced with cutouts and snakeskin paneling that's not exactly edgy, but certainly a contemporary shift. To that point, the collection's florals are also taken further this season, dotted with high-impact brights and made all the more compelling in 3D floral appliques. Designer Erdem Moralioglu's girl is hardly a one-note wonder either, as he takes on trousers and tops and a few coats and jackets finished in the same wash of gorgeous prints, albeit with a touch of sportier sensibility with zip-ups and in more relaxed silhouettes. At its core, it's still what we've come to know and love from Erdem — a lineup of dresses, each more lovely than the next — but the unexpected textural play and contemporary color highlights give us something entirely new to love too.

• Trends: Cutouts, lace, snakeskin, floral appliqués, sheer.
• Colors: Powder blues and soft yellows, black and white, a pop of bright pink and orange.
• Key Piece: We were taken with the lovely iterations on lace and snakeskin.
• Accessories: Metallic and printed T-strap platforms; sporty, clear shades; sparkling statement necklaces at the collar.
• Who Should Wear It: The feminine style set — Michelle Williams, Miranda Kerr, and Diane Kruger.

A casual observer of Christopher Kane's Spring 2013 show might not believe it was inspired by Dr. Frankenstein's monster — until he or she saw the nuts and bolts holding some of its dresses together, that is.

Kane confessed that he loves "that book by Mary Shelley," and he showed his love with a collection pieced together from seemingly disparate elements. White quilted jackets with soft shoulders opened the show. These led to suiting buttoned up with clear bolts and dresses in a palette of pale pink, yellow, white, and gray that got the bolted treatment, too. The bows that topped a few of these dresses were made into prints on other pink and brown dresses devoid of any hints of Kane's monstrous influence. But the inspiration popped back up toward the end of the show, on a sleeveless shirt that had the monster's face screen-printed on the front and a pink dress whose white embroidery was affixed with what looked like black electrical tape.