NEW YORK - With the last of New York's finest presenting their Fall 2012 ready-to-wear collections February 16, here's a look at five of the most exciting emerging trends including tie belts, blanket coats and capes.
After making their mark at both Paris and Milan menswear fashion weeks, two trends that continued on for women's ready-to-wear were military and capes. The former was big at the likes of Marc by Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, Alexander Wang, Jason Wu and Victoria Beckham – whose trademark tight-fitting frocks were given an army touch in khaki with the addition of epaulettes and gold buttons.
After impressing at menswear shows for designers including Yves Saint Laurent and Mugler earlier in the year, capes were back with a vengeance in New York. Vera Wang showed feminine cape jackets, while sweeping gothic-inspired varieties were seen at L'Wren Scott.
A flouncy influence was also seen in the rise of blanket coats, which evoked cozy winter nights at Rag & Bone and Michael Kors.
Tie belts (pictured right from Zac Posen; image: Showbit) were also having a moment; as a menswear influence was seen at Ralph Lauren, where black ties were teamed with ornate gold cardigans and wide-legged black pants. While tie-up black leather belts were seen at Proenza Schouler, Zac Posen innovatively used men's ties as belts at his show and offered one of the easiest looks to recreate of the season.
Paneling was also one of the top trends likely to make its way to the high street, with Reed Krakoff, Lacoste, Calvin Klein and Charlotte Ronson all offering paneled creations. While the last two preferred leather blocks, designers such as Peter Som and Vera Wang preferred to layer with sheer panels.
Finally in terms of colour, red, orange and gold were three of the biggest standout shades, but it was monochrome that truly had an impact, with black and white geometric shapes standing out at Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, Narciso Rodriguez and Diane von Furstenberg. Monochrome stripes were big at Ohne Titel, while black and white paneling appeared at 3.1 Phillip Lim.