Pencils down

Demna Gvasalia, the creative director at Balenciaga, is bent on breathing fresh air into the French house by introducing challenging silhouettes and more utilitarian fabrications. Case in point – the houndstooth pencil skirt seen on the label's fall runway, which featured a waistline gone askew. While the look may work on the hyper-styled catwalk, more practical versions of the updated pencil skirt exist. Take Bottega Veneta's sharply hipped style, for example. Buttons add interest to Altuzarra's prim mid-calf offering, meaning you can modify how much leg to flash. Reiss and Pink Tartan play with textiles from tweed to leather, while Ted Baker's asymmetrical skirt is unusual but not unapproachable. Go ahead and test one out.