Clever stuff from the master shape shifter

Balenciaga, invidiously influential, may also be one of the cleverest. Like founder Cristobal Balenciaga, the creative director, Demna Gvasalia, is fascinated not only by shape but by the spaces created between garment and wearer.

Jumpers puddled in haphazard piles, blouson tops cut from leather and silk panels formed little pouches as the models moved.

It’s easy to roll our eyes, but Gvasalia is breathtakingly talented at cutting, utterly forward-looking and an agile marketer possessed of enviable chutzpah. Oversized matchymatchy laundry bags and flounced dresses, stretchy fabric stiletto boots, clashy bright tights, charm necklaces and silk-scarf bracelets will be snapped up by affluent fashionistas and devoured by high street copyists.

Phoebe Philo, another powerplayer, didn’t disappoint at Celine. Oversized tailoring was elegant, as was an updated version of her high-cut shoes, this time with a slender platform. On the opposite side of the spectrum is Valentino, a house where the designer’s adoration of the past is overt, but never heavy handed.

Pierpaolo Piccioli’s favourite period is Italy’s Renaissance. Crosspollinating that era’s raised waists, pin-tucked shoulders and sweeping lengths with the Memphis movement of the 1980s was an energising master-stroke.

Collaborating with Natalie du Pasquier, a member of the original Memphis group, Piccioloi introduced bold prints, grabbing the often lurid colours typical of Memphis and running them through a delicate, purifying filter. Patterned midi pleated dresses fluttered through deep vented cashmere coats. Flower speckled knits were spun into dresses so fine they looked almost like chiffon. A “simple” dress consisting of 28 different sections, flowing like mist, wore its complexity quietly.

There were also multiple numeral rings marking the day of the show across the models’ knuckles. Customers will be able to buy a wider range in store to commemorate their own significant dates. It’s not a Valentino dress, but it’s a start.