The fashion week season kicked off in New York in the evening of 9th February. It’s been seven frantic days for editors, buyers, photographers, models and fashionistas who have to rush from one show to the next – it may all sound very glamorous but it’s also hard work!

So what did New York show for Autumn/Winter 2011-12? American fashion at its best. No more timid, recession-proof collections but the return of glamour, luxury and opulence in the form of rich fabrics, feminine, elegant silhouettes and lots and lots of fur (which, personally, I wish there were fake).

Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera
Max Azria, Christopher Cota
Hervé Léger, Ralph Lauren
Calvin Klein, Tory Burch
Jason Wu, Victoria Beckham

Grey was king but followed very closely by black and red. Shades of orange, ochres, yellows, purples, blues and greens were also spotted at Rodarte, Nanette Lepore, Milly and Victoria Beckham, amongst others.

Neutrals ruled particularly at Donna Karan but were also seen at Calvin Klein, Dennis Basso and Michael Kors. Pure white made an appearance at Elie Tahari, Calvin Klein and Bill Blass but elsewhere it was shown in tandem with black.

Dennis Basso, Alexander Wang
Victoria Beckham, Vera Wang
Rodarte, Carlos miele
Milly, Marc Jacobs

Multi-colour, tribal prints were shown at Thakoon, Proenza Schouler, Elie Tahari, Anna Sui, Christian Cota and L.A.M.B.

Thakoon, Proenza Schouler
Anna Sui, Elie Tahari

For the first few days, there was hardly any jewellery on display at the shows, just a few bangles and bracelets at Dianne von Furstenberg. But Donna Karan broke the ice the following day with some multi-strand pearl necklaces made by Erickson Beamon. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with Donna Karan’s collection (clothes and accessories) because, beautiful as it was, I found it unexpectedly old glamour and ‘ladylike’, and, in my opinion, it lacked the spark and edge of previous collections.

Donna Karan

Other designers using jewellery on their shows included Anna Sui, whose models wore long, sparkling necklaces with bejewelled pendants. Dennis Basso’s models wore long beaded necklaces, as did Oscar de la Renta’s. Michael Kors was rather mode edgy, adorning his models with polished metal chunky chokers and oversized cuffs – just the kind of pieces we adore at Caradiaz ! Proenza Schouler did a few statement necklaces in various styles (from tribal animal claws/teeth, to kind of Graeco-Roman leaves), whereas Naheem Kham opted for big earrings only and Ralph Lauren did Chinese-inspired necklces and jade earrings.

Anna Sui, Dennis Basso
Oscar de la Renta, Proenza Schouler
Ralph Lauren

My overall favourite, with or without jewellery? Carolina Herrera and her trademark understated luxury. The whole collection was exquisite, absolutely to die for. I especially LOVED the über-chic wide-cuffed gauntlet gloves, now on my shopping list for next winter, together with Michael Kors's suede knee boots and Theysken’s Theory knitwear plus wide-legged trousers – my perfect casuals!

Next stop: London