There are a lot of things I like doing, but few can compete with curling up with my computer and rifling through the hundreds of runway shows two times a year. With New York Fashion Week behind us, it was onto London, Milan and Paris. While I enjoy the New York shows, there’s more of an inaccessibility (and therefore a more enticing quality) to the European presentations. I have great respect for the American designers that produce creative shows season after season, but there’s something so directional and theatrical when it comes to European designers’ runways.

Paris Fashion Week is still going, but I’ve seen enough of the collections from London and Milan to deduce that references to the roaring twenties is a huge spring trend. Think The Great Gatsby, the Jazz Age, flapper girls, and the Chrysler Building.

Design houses like Gucci, Etro, Temperley London and Dries Van Noten channeled the decadent decade with rich fabrics, emerald green, gold, beads, sequins, feathers, fringe, Art Deco and geometric prints and lines, and the identifiable drop waists. The clothes moved fluidly on the runways, with the ornate beading, gold embellishments and fringe accents dazzling the crowds and cameras; yet the effortless movement was juxtaposed with the clothes’ intricate linear patterns, which are so precise and angular.

I’m ecstatic that this trend had a strong, ubiquitous presence. I feel like the luxurious designs, combined with the decade’s famous liberated spirit gives us a lot to look forward to come spring.

For more international fashion show coverage visit http://www.style.com/

Etro

Etro

Gucci

Gucci

Jenny Packham

Roberto Cavalli

Barbara Bui

Dries Van Noten

Issa

Temperley London