The quirkiness of Miu Miu was for autumn presented through extended silhouettes of dark blue and brown, sometimes with a skit at the buttom, but as much as through patterns of dots and stripes in more vivid hues. It was like a mixture of sportiness with high tech materials and romance with the typically feminine. Opening with the best look of a double breasted cape jacket, the collection afterwards only went downwards unfortunately, which is not much of a surprise really since Miuccia Prada never puts as much creative effort into the brand of Miu Miu as she does at her mainline. “I just wanted the visual”, she said.

See the complete collection on Style.com.

Three days of a continuous stream line of impressions have passed, leaving one quite ambiguous towards how to conclude this season of Mercedes Benz fashion week autumn/winter 2013 in Stockholm. As of today, we can at laeast establish the difficulty of defining what Swedish fashion really is, especially when three of the brands with essential value to the Swedish industry were missing from the schedule, Filippa K, Hope and Rodebjer. Expectations were instead transferred even more so onto smaller brands, especially AltewaiSaome who season after season continues to challenge current ideas with extremely modern methods. What make their design so familiar and easy to like while at the same time feeling fresh, is the clutter of diverging influences that seem to appear in the clothing, it is sportswear, minimalism, Italian craftsmanship and even avant garde at times. It was the silhouette in particular and the subtle detailing that disguished the collection from the lot. A few other happy surprises of the week were the veterans of Carin Wester and Whyred, that for the past few years have failed to live of to the high expectations that follows. Both were delivering collections with a sense of revival to it in terms of silhouette and cut with a much more refined and interesting look.

What raised the question of why designers have such a vast need for explicit branding, was the frequent use logotypes in the shows, seen at The Local Firm, BACK, Hernández Cornet and even in the finale in the show by glamour queen of Ida Sjöstedt. A less disturbing detail yet conspicuous that appeared at least as recurrently were all those high tech garments in shiny materials at Hernández Cornet, Whyred, Cheap Monday and Diana Orving. Of which the latter, among several live gigs as competition, were playing the most suitable music for the collection.It started slow and somewhat drowsy to get more intensified and exciting as it proceeded, but always maintaining a pretty even and dull level. Minor tones to describe the mood of the week in its entirety.

And, don’t miss out the shows Fashion Networks have been covering for Style.com.

Top from left: Cheap Monday, Whyred, Hernández Cornet

Center: AltewaiSaome

Bottom from left: BACK, Hernández Cornet, The Local Firm

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By Josefin Arestav

Tiger are nown for their androgynous take on womens wear, and this year was no exception. We see a lot of suit pieces such as cigarette pants, flowy shirts and tailored suit jackets. But in contrast to this was a warmer colour scale consisting of plum, purple, red and pink, often combined together. We also saw a lot of grey scales which is an evidence of New York buildings and concrete as the main inspiration for the design team for this collection. The styling was effortlessly but elegantly made by Robert Rydberg, known for his ability to make more dressed up clothing look like it is something just thrown on. This low key approach to fashion is also what signifies the collection, and indicates that classic tailored pieces can not only be worn in the office. The pony hair hats were among our favourite pieces, but the bags and outerwear also impressed. This fall we will wear or bags on the hip instead of the shoulder to make it more of a statement piece.

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By Simone Brenemark Molvidson

Diana Orving is somewhat of the Swedish poet when it comes to design. She conceptualises simple ideas, talk around them, this season the print she came to name Mandala became the bones of the collection. If repeated, Mandala would sound like a mantra just like some of the details and silhouettes of Diana Orving are to herself. For example the flowing silk and tencel draperies as well as the layering frills and the prison-like cut outs. But the collection soon evolved into more experimental looks of metallic finishes and wool textures in the purple and blue hues of a sunset. A romantic yet dramatic movement of fabrics that moved sensually to the minimalistic music, taking out its full potential on the final looks from the Atelier collection. Those were embellished with flowers galore in a matte burgundy colour, almost as though the Mandala print came to life.

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By Josefin Arestav

Visiting NYC last fall for the first time triggered the creative minds of ALTEWAISAOME to create a collection based on the cultural diversions of the metropolitan. Given the extensive number of impressions you get , the collection however proved to be very cohesive with less embellishments (sequins in blocking only, almost referencing to the sparkling skyscrapers) than previous seasons and with a glimmering dark green as the only accent colour among the neutrals. Instead the collection put focus on two other characteristics of the brand, voluminous silhouettes and meticulous detailing, this season being white linings and zippers that depending on if opened or closed would create cut out shapes of its own. Some cuts and silhouettes even crossed the line to avant garde, seen in an oversized, cowl neck in particular. Being known for their use of sporty influences in otherwise tailored clothing, ALTEWAISAOME this season continued to explore the possibilities of their design without abandoning their identity.

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By Josefin Arestav