Find out the key trends in womenswear for spring 2005. looks at the hottest looks to emerge from the catwallks and beyond.

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WOOLLY HATS AND SUNNIES

British springtime is a fickle thing and the bright days can have a chilly edge so it's just as well that woolly hats and supersized sunnies are the women's accessory combo next season. At the Eley Kishimoto show, caramel coloured lenses were paired with brightly coloured striped berets while across the pond at Dior motoring caps and shades were all the go. For those who prefer a mix 'n' match approach, the biggest specs of the season were spotted at Frost French: their tortoiseshell rims are a perfect complement to Prada's chunky knit, cone shaped chapeaux. Alternatively, for an edgier look, try Michiko Koshino's visor shades with Rubecksen Yamanaka's peculiar 'crochet pouch' hats.

KNEE-LENGTH TRACKIES

Cropped below the knee and cuffed, knickerbockers will be still gracing pins across the land next season. Adopting a retro 70s sportswear feel, Eley Kishimoto Ellesse sent out white 'bockers with Mondrianesque canary yellow and navy panels and popper fastenings on the waistband at their show, while 55DSL has produced them in baby pink towelling. Justin Oh's are cream coloured and worn under a skirt for a boho flavour and Emma Cook re-interpreted them in draped chocolate brown jersey with wide cuffs. Hoxton Boutique went for sports-glam in black velour with a fine gold stripe and Ashish added sparkle with lashings of sequins.

ALL-IN-ONES

According to the catwalks, shorts are big news for spring/summer, but for those keen to take it a statement-making step further, the casual all-in-one is the way to go. At Peter Jensen orange-faced ice-skaters pirouetted in bibbed all-in-ones with kneelength baggy shorts while Sophia Malig showed a button-front sleeveless style with overall fastenings and wide-legged shorts which gathered just under the knee. Siereks went for a more delicate, white cotton look with capped sleeves, a mandarin collar and typically quirky detailing in the single-pleated pocket that scooped around the hip. Preen sent out turned-up short shorts in palest grey and Karen Walker worked to an explorer theme sending out a utility-style all-in-one in khaki drill with a low-slung belt and short sleeves.

BOMBER JACKETS

A perennial favourite and always a winner, the bomber goes bright this season. YMC uses an enlarged dogtooth check in red, black, navy and white on their loose fitting bomber jackets and at Eley Kishimoto the season's retro sporty look prevails on a vivid red and white bomber with with a green stripe and basket-shaped pocket detail. Collado Garcia make a feature of the pockets, sculpting them away from the body on a polka dot speckled number. Sequins picked out scissor motifs on Ashish's sparkly jackets while kings of quirk, Viktor and Rolf, present pink satin bomber with a ribbed waistband so wide it started under the breast and finished mid-hip.

TIERED SKIRTS

Little House on the Prairie may not be the most obvious style reference but, we suspect, it is the inspiration behind one of next season's freshest looks: the tiered skirt. 55DSL's tiered skirts are white and each tier is marked with coloured trim while at Eley Kishimoto they're black with ribbon trim in yellow and red. Justin Oh's skirts are floor-length and funkily hooked up with leather belts, while Dries van Noten had worked his magic on surface details that includes subtle grey prints and delicate yellow embroidery. And just in case that all got too whimsical, Brit chick Laura Lees embellishes her cotton skirts with embroidered razors and skulls. Nice.
Photo: Chris Moore

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