The Globe and Mail

Whereas Dries Van Noten zoomed in on photo print landscapes for his spring collection, his starting point for fall, 2012, was historical Asian prints that he worked into soigné silhouettes.

(Associated Press)

Here’s a studied (but not overwrought) grouping of pieces that express the Dries-ian attitude: a cropped parka, high collar white shirt, extra long crewneck sweater and a skirt that glints in stone pieces - presumably not sourced from a bathroom store. Town, meet country.

(Reuters)

All of the prints - of Chinese, Japanese and Korean origin - came from costumes belonging to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. There’s no subtext to this dress; Van Noten is too serious and thoughtful for that.

(Associated Press)

After a series of more traditional applications of the prints, this look veers more toward flamboyant. Still, he does not stray from the men’s wear touches.

(Associated Press)

Van Noten was not the only designer experimenting with a stony theme on Wednesday. Marco Zanini, who designs for the Rochas label, opened his show with a manipulated stone mosaic print. But he balances the all-over gold and bronze with proper, forgiving silhouettes.

(Associated Press)

It was a textural, catchy collection, filled with wools that looked amusingly pilled and prints of varying scale (inspired, apparently, by postwar Swedish ceramic artist Wilhelm Kage). Crisp trousers flared gradually toward the stacked platform heels.

(Associated Press)

The dresses that closed the show were a delightful exercise in exaggerating volume while underscoring demure, doll-like shapes.

(Reuters)

Note the rich colours and fabric mixing. This recurring necklace consisted of pieces that formed a talismanic-style character. It could also prove useful as a kid’s plaything - except during teething.

(Reuters)

Demure would not be a word used to describe Gareth Pugh’s intense, oftentimes threatening aesthetic. The exaggerated fur detailing- so plush and satiny - made me think of highly evolved wildebeest.

(Reuters)

Or, in the case of this dress, a vamp Vader.

(Reuters)

But seriously, Pugh knows how to work a right angle. Here, sleeves transition into triangular folds that connect front and back like an origami fortune-teller. The collar-cum-mask is something Pugh revisited from last season. Hey, she may actually be smiling under there.

(Reuters)