The Dries Van Noten show is the one I always look forward to each season, as I wait with anticipation knowing I will want to own most of it. Dangerous! You can always count on Dries to incorporate a lot of colour and print into each collection, as has become his signature over the years. The SS2012 show was opened by Julia Nobis, proving she really is the quintessential Dries look. Her side parted, slicked back hair was the perfect accessory to a crisp black and white ensemble, featuring a watered down Balenciaga couture-esque peplum. The monotone looks kept coming, slowly introducing the season’s main print – a beautiful landscape of rock faces and rolling clouds, leading into a river stream.

Dries Van Noten always has a sense of dichotomy in each collection – masculine versus feminine is a common theme. This is most obviously displayed in the styling. A floaty skirt is paired with a strictly buttoned up shirt, and a tailored vest is worn long over cropped trousers. Another Dries signature is the combination of prints, often panelled together in the same piece. This was most successful in a series of florals mixed back with the landscape, creating an unusual mash up of colour and texture.

Colour was not as prominent for SS2012, but instead artfully used in sections, either as a bold magenta statement piece or sporadically amongst vast spaces of white. Teal and aqua were a strong addition to the collection, perfect in tailored pants, again paired with a ruffled peplum. Towards the end of the show we were seeing a lot of silk taffeta, another Dries favourite. Love love the crisp black opera coat, as well as a stunning long skirt with artfully placed gathers and tucks. The last look was again leaning towards old couture techniques – a tight fitting skirt billowing out into a full blown fish tail. Of course the severity was toned down by a white biker jacket. It wouldn’t be Dries without these contrasting details. And this is why we love everything he does.