Proenza Schouler: A/W 2010

As far as I can remember, this was the first time that the first look sent down the runway had such an effect of me. The dark hair, vampish lips, white skin and the scribble print that makes your eyes dance, made quite a dark and scary first impression. I was holding Proenza Schouler's vibrant, surf inspired collection from last season in mind, and wow, what a change.

Grandma knit sweaters over the top of stark white shirts, buttoned up to the neck, were a disconcerting combination. Dresses, belts and in particular, collars and that strip down a shirt where buttons should be, were made in leather, giving a cool edge to the Gothic feel of this collection.

A predominant trend of NYFW so far seems to be the reworking of the preppy, school-girl look, and it's been interesting to see how different designers have played with it. Proenza Schouler add a lot of texture to theirs with heavy, long furs in navy hues and sleek black. I think what gave this collection such a creepy factor for me was it reminded me of psychopathic characters in horror films. They kind of looked like a mysterious girl in school , who turns out to be murdering off the other students one by one.

As the collection progressed colours were introduced in the palette of a bruise; black-green, pallid-yellow and threads of navy blue. I particularly liked the long-sleeved, empire line dresses with mesh panels across the chest - a perfect look for autumn.

Further down the line, the collection became more reminiscent of spring/summer, with a day-time sky blue, and dresses with quite a pretty, paint speckled print.

The collection was really strong and very wearable. I wish I could buy at least half of it. Definitely, one of my favourites from NYFW, up there with Preen.

P.S - and let's not forget the shoes: AMAZING.