Yiorgos Eleftheriades

A prolonged, weirdly harmonised version of “I Feel Love” opened Yiorgos Eleftheriades’ AW10 catwalk show. This was perhaps down to a technical problem backstage, or a wayward model missing her cue, but whatever the reason, the Greek designer made it up to the waiting crowd.

Simplicity is underrated for some people, but Eleftheriades is clearly not amongst them. Contemporary elegance is his focus, which he pulled off here with ease. Colours were pared down – in a quietly confident palette of grey, black and mushroom, duck egg blue was as near to bold as this collection came – yet each look was consistently well executed. Body con was juxtaposed with billowing dresses; each differing silhouette was simple, but well defined and extremely flattering. Adding soft Mongolian fur trims, wraps and coats to several looks gave an edgy, urban twist to the collection.

Montse Liarte

As the models took their final lap, it was clear to see that Montse Liarte had executed an extremely wearable collection – perhaps too wearable. Although not an entirely bad thing, some of the pieces could be filed under ‘office wear’, as Liarte had played it safe. A whole lot of black in the form of trouser and skirt suits, shift dresses and bolero jackets came first, followed by pastel pink and black shirt dresses, and royal blue woollen trousers teamed with black mandarin-collared oversized shirts. Every piece was minimal, which could have segued into monotony. But the former Desigual designer quashed these thoughts with her superior tailoring throughout. The draping, folding and hang of the fine wool, silk and heavy cotton wove a sense of luxury into each piece.

Juan Antonio Ávalos

The male models at the Juan Antonio Ávalos show sauntered around the floor to “My Sharona” by The Knack. That is, if The Knack were speedballing at a field rave. This was the acid house version of the song, to complement the distinct off-the-wall 80s vibe of the collection. Matching quilted jackets and trousers, shiny tracksuits and retro high top sneakers continued the throwback celebration. Add puffa everything in primary colours, including earmuffs, some fetching neon eyeshadow and an anomalous Lego/railway/Transformer/wind turbine field installation in the centre of the room, and the result was, well, inexplicable. It was completely bizarre, but as everyone left with a smile on their face and their tongue planted firmly in their cheek, Ávalos must be doing something right.

All images courtesy of 080 Barcelona Fashion.