Favorite looks for the F/W 2011-2012 season come from John Rocha, Junya Watanabe, Valentino, Mary Katrantzou, Thakoon and Alexander McQueen. Trends include Medievalism, moulded hourglass shapes, fuzzy skirts and oversized, misshapen coats. And the humble tie stain makes an appearance at Anne-Sofie Back.

John Rocha Fall 2011

More tangled brilliance from John Rocha:

The oversized, misshapen coats that kept popping up:

Celine

Aquilano.Rimondi

John Rocha

Stella McCartney

The blazer at Stella McCartney comes misshapen, too.

There was WAY too much skin/fur/pelt on the runway this season, below manifested in a variety of fuzzy skirts:

Fur at John Galliano.

Fur at Alexander McQueen.

Wool at Holly Fulton.

Faux fur at Junya Watanabe…

…who segues nicely into my examples of moulded hourglass shapes:

Junya Watanabe

Junya Watanabe

The above looks remind me of Guy Davis’ Honour Among Punks:

Thom Browne

Lampshade skirts at Mary Katrantzou.

Mary Katrantzou

While Katrantzou’s prints are porcelain-inspired, Sarah Burton uses actual porcelain sherds to piece together bustiers at Alexander McQueen:

Alexander McQueen

Also from Burton’s outstanding McQueen collection comes medieval looks:

Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen

Other examples of Medievalism from Viktor & Rolf and Gareth Pugh:

Crusaders at Viktor & Rolf.

Viktor & Rolf

Gareth Pugh

The use of a drawbridge was not exclusive to the Viktor & Rolf show. Chanel’s runway also needed the extra protection. It seems that Lagerfeld channeled Werther de Goethe from Michael Moorcock’s science fiction trilogy, The Dancers at the End of Time: with a twist of his ring he conjured up a foreboding, volcanic fashionscape that suited his dark mood.

Lagerfeld had a dream about his volcanic fashionscape for the Chanel Fall 2011 show. Photo by Olivier Zahm.

The tie stain:

The tie stain at Anne-Sofie Back.

Other favorite looks from Junya Watanabe, Thakoon and Valentino:

Junya Watanabe

Junya Watanabe

Thakoon’s plaids are inspired by the Masai.

Thakoon

Thakoon

From Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli’s gorgeous Valentino show. The color palette has been compared to Pasolini’s Teorema.

Valentino

Valentino