After a very long month of shows, parties and after-parties, the fashion community can finally get some rest. Hundreds of Spring/Summer 2014 (SS14) trends have been exposed to the international public; now merchandisers and buyers must get to work and market the product in retail spaces all over the world.

 Every season, designers try to come up with an innovative idea for their collection and create a theme for the pieces in their show around this idea. Some create basic suiting where silhouettes are simple in shape and color. Others go over the top with various materials, sparkles and colors. This season, I noticed some overlap in trends casted for SS14: bold colors and artistic designs are in, as is showing off your belly button. I was also pleased to see that fur, my favorite, has a

strong presence. 

 Miuccia Prada, the creative director of both Miu Miu and Prada, really went after the bold colors and a “feminist” theme of sorts in her Prada SS14 Show. Her show consisted of multiple dresses with Warhol-esque designs of women’s faces slashed across the front, embellished with sparkles. The shapes of the dresses themselves were quite feminine to start with, with the addition of lacy bandeaus on top of the garments. Knee-length fur coats also showed off the designs, making for quite an intriguing and colorful show. Her show was definitely out of the ordinary, especially compared to Prada’s last season, which showcased many neutral designs and colors for fall.

 Proenza Schouler, my favorite collection this season, showed very simple designs of culottes(large cropped pants), maxi skirts, long and fitted coats and sleeveless tops that show off the navel region. Every design was in a beige, black, off-white, rust or gold/silver color — quite different from Prada. Yet, the streamlined fit of each of the looks was extremely flattering and versatile. All of the bottoms were high-waisted, allowing for this new “crop top” to emerge. But the top that Proenza showed was not just a crop top. The top wrapped in a figure eight around the model’s body, creating two V’s that accentuated the neckline and belly button. It seems that the designers want to forget about cleavage and accentuate the midriff area, which is actually quite refreshing. Others such as Gucci, Trussardi and Versace, created much of the same type of looks for this season. 

Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi, together, created an incredible show as well. While the walls of the showroom were covered with gray panels, the clothing, mostly dresses, consisted of cobalt blues, reds, oranges and pinks. Some black and white dresses were also shown; they were especially beautiful because of the lace bottom halves. But, to me, the best parts of Fendi’s collection were the mink accessories. The dresses were quite simple, but the addition of mink accessories really tied together the whole collection to make it stand out. This season, look out for mink on Fendi shoes and bangles, as well as on their evening bags.

Obviously, these are only three out of hundreds of incredible shows created for this season. Keep up with these styles by looking at fashion blogs and flipping through magazines. Within the next couple of months, all of the styles will be in stores and on the Internet for sale (but mostly for window shopping!).

Contact Claire Hunter at [email protected].