The highlights and lowlights of the 2014 Fashion World

Our annual run-down of the major happenings in the fashion World- we take a look at the biggest successes, and failures, in the world of designer fashion. We’d like to think our jewellery fits into the former of these!

Petite Malle

2014 was an interesting year: Where we saw Nicolas Ghesquière making his debut as the new artistic director of Louis Vuitton. Ghesquière is one of the most influential designers of his generation and in 2014 he launched the 'Petite Malle' bag, one of the great iconic handbags of 2014.

The 'Petite Malle' bag (louisvuitton.com) played to the Seventies trend with its undertones, 3D box-bags (below) and fascinating fabrications: all a new angle for Louis Vuitton.

Norm Core
This was the year of norm core – a term coined to make fashion functional. Wear your designer dressers with trainers to add a chic active daywear look.

However don’t forget fashion is cyclical so this year we may see overblown glitz blitz to counteract the trend in 2015.

A laboratory of Coats
White lab coats hit the haute couture collections. In January, both Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel and Raf Simons at Dior showed collections inspired by the lightness and efficiency of trainers. It is the new couture of 2014... personally it is not a trend we believe we will see a lot of in 2015 but time will tell.

'Bumsters', by Alexander Mcqueen 
Sarah Burton hit the Red Carpet and netted the prize at the British Fashion Awards. She showcased a stellar winter collection and presented a spring show of fashion meets wearability that silenced critics.

Ladies of Victoria’s Secret
There was a lot of buzz about Victoria's Secret landing on this side of the pond with their VS signature show. It was watched live on CBS by 9.29 million viewers, no doubt selling a lot of lingere.
Underwear has become a huge business with Donatella Versace chopping out the backs of trousers to frame the perfectly panted pert butt-cheeks..it is not just womens underwear which is making its way down the catwalk.  victoriassecret.com

Gucci - Who will take the bit between the teeth?  
Frida Giannini will leave Gucci after her winter 2015 womenswear show in February which led to speculation as to who will fill her shoes.
Gucci showcased a detailed and striking catwalk collection which was picked up by all the major magazines but overall it was not such a good year for the brand as sales fell 1.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2014, however one to watch in 2015.

Let’s see what fortune this year will bring to the fashion world.