Statement leather and leather details were seen everywhere. YSL featured the material in lapels, turtlenecks and even shoulders, which were patched in soft black leather. Dark skin treated sleeves melted into Alexander McQueen’s zip-up wool bomber jacket, while Acne featured malleable leather shirts and Phillip Lim chose dense and heavy leather for his hip-length vest and jumper. Unexpected texture made its way in via quilting techniques in Christian Dior’s olive brown parka and Balmain’s skinny leather trousers with quilted knee patches, which were paired with strong blue pea-coats.

Designers also delivered exceptional interpretations of the gentleman’s suit, which went beyond classic ideals. Sarah Burton’s double-breasted three-piece suit in crisp white pinstripes was a success, as was the shorts suit presented at Raf Simons. Jean Paul Gaultier took a deconstruction approach, layering jacket vests over cummerbunds, collars and lapels. Influenced by Marine suits, Thierry Mugler’s Nicola Formachetti focused on tailoring and construction by minimizing (or removing) details such as pockets and lapels. Military nuances were also seen at Hermes, where sophisticated charcoal suits resembled uniforms and were accompanied by belted coats in leather and exotic skins.

As always, Paris also upheld its reputation for breaking and making trends. Thom Browne’s sinister collection of punks versus jocks introduced exaggerated quarterback shoulders, devilish spiked masks and schnauzer prints. Lanvin’s eye-catching jailhouse looks featured high-waist trousers, puffed jumpers and wide navy stripes cut across orange coats, blazers and pleated pants. Yohji Yamamoto’s real life models donned pauper ensembles (layers of oversized red silk, wide wool suits and padded overcoats with blanket scarves). Rei Kawakuba presented an androgynous libertarian collection for Comme des Garçons that was filled with tailored coats in polka-dot and floral prints. Henrik Vibsgov’s affluent hippy collection included mature deep v-neck cardigans in printed knits and slouching trousers with tapered ankles and zip decals. And Junya Wantanabe’s a/w ’12 collection, entitled “Work,” was by far the most relaxed with country inspired flannel shirts and colorful suspenders holding up heavy dark denim.

Lane’s collection was inspired as much by visual artists as by feminine mood. The energetic display of movement seen in Dutch artist Peter Jansen’s work (particularly his Human Motions exhibition) is manifested in the delicate, hand-sewn pleats that dominate each design. One particular highlight is a bias-cut pant suit that’s gathered at the hip and features gentle pleats diverging downwards into relaxed tapered legs and upwards into a one-sided cape. The work of French painter Suzanne Valadon is also present in Lane’s designs, specifically the artist’s “Ketty’s Etriant” pencil sketch, which the designer interprets through a somber mix of silvers and gradating grays with optimistic orange: a simple sleeveless gray shift dress is enhanced by a pleated front panel of dyed fabric that changes from charcoal to soft orange.

Lane describes her collection as an opportunity to express women’s moods, mainly through fluidity and diverse pleating. The collection also boasts elements of embroidery, mainly within the polyester pleats, and exaggerated collars that can be converted into capes. Lane successfully captures this unique combination of strength and sex appeal in her finale piece, a silk chiffon gown with twisting one-shoulder, cut-out details and thin pleating from bust to floor.

As a well-traveled pair, Slavica and Jason have always observed the differences between cultures, but while a recent trip to Paris for Slavica’s birthday ignited her passion for the Parisian lifestyle. Captivated by everything from the artistry of the food to conversational openness to the local sense of style and simplicity, she recognized what many fellow francophiles have also realized: “the French live such seductive lives!” Rather than abandoning the whimsy of Paris to cherished memories, however, Slavica decided to launch a blog dedicated to emulating that oft-romanticized lifestyle. And thus Seductively French was born.

Slavica has carefully curated the site to help individuals learn how to live like the French with “deliberate thought of fine and exquisite craft.” Featuring a rundown of the top ten ways in which to be “Seductively French,” Slavica has created a quintessential must-do list for imitating Parisian culture—all the way down to matching your lingerie sets. Like-minded lifestyle enthusiasts flock to the blog for glimpses of ravishing interiors and avant-garde fashion as well as inspirational anecdotes and photography. And the editorial world has taken notice: Slavica has been asked to regularly contribute to six international publications along with major interviews and a coffee table book in the works.

Thanks to the ever-expanding blogosphere galaxy, the world feels like a smaller place every day. Even the most superior magazines couldn’t compete with Seductively French’s modern take on a lifestyle delivered and dissected at your door. Let’s just say it has a certain je ne sais quoi. Seductively French lavishes readers with all the fruits of Parisian life—and you don’t have to venture beyond your computer to live it, be it and own it.

YSL was ever-mindful of its traditional fit with waist defining blazers in slim tailored navy blues and grays. Neutrals were introduced halfway through the show as a khaki rendition of military-meets-tribalwear looks surfaced in male corseted shorts and python printed blouses. The collection represented balance in cross-culture and cross-gender dressing as the classic male suit touched on the beauty of ambiguity in a conventional society. Ann Demeulemeester also represented the androgynous with nude sheer tees and masculine tunics with black patent-piping. Reveling in vests, waistcoats and three-quarter length sleeves and pants, her rugged sand-inspired collection had notes of a modern-day black tie affair gone awry as well as hints of Asian influenced cuts and cloths.

Rei Kawakubo’s collection for Comme des Garçons featured a similar cross-cultural reference within its “tailoring for punks” theme. Perhaps the most paradoxical of the shows, Kawakubo sent tattoo covered models down the runway in perfectly tailored pinstriped blazers with biker zips that revealed the classic Prince of Whales check underneath. Color was intentionally placed in orange buttons and pink cuffed socks, while slimming skirts—think Gothic kilts—refined the punk-meets-prince look.

Skirts were also featured in Riccardo Tisci’s surfer-turned-fashion-boy collection for Givenchy, where tropical printed skirts, pants and shorts were bejeweled in sequins and crystals that glistened under the runway lights. If a fairy tale came to life in the fashion world, Tisci’s male models would likely be the warriors of its fantastical realm. At Acne, Jonny Johansson’s ‘70s-inspired denimwear line dazzled in leggings, biker shorts and mini shorts paired with patent evening shoes.

Other flesh-wielding menswear pieces were seen in Maison Martin Margiela’s collection, where unbuttoned and transparent shirts were paired with straight-legged pants rolled up to reveal rebellious undertones. Thierry Mugler took “skinspiration” to a whole new level with a collection suitable for a frat superhero party. Opening the show with a modernized take on a Grecian god, Mugler’s models revealed more and more skin with each piece. With realistic items like stonewashed skinny jeans and surf rashguard tees, Mugler’s body-conscious collection was ever aware in spite of its bare-all underbelly.

If June Gloom were ever a theme, Dries Van Noten’s weatherproof collection was the rainbow of the storm. With nylon parkas, polyester jackets and slim tapered pants, his dew-finished pieces dominated the runway in dark navy and burgundy hues as manufactured brights lightened the streamlined look through saturated stripes. Meanwhile, Raf Simons’ collection keyed into the same prevailing midnight theme of other designers, while also featuring neon plaids and flower-hybrid muscle tees that flirted with femininity and the idea of nudity. With confidently coiffed models, uniformity ran rampant as carbon-copied hair and pant suits ascended and descended amidst a stage of escalators.

Uniformity was seen in Lanvin’s multi-faceted collection as each model embodied Alber Elbaz’s admission that “a man in uniform is always a hero.” Rather than mutually agreeing on one look, the designer released characters at the beginning of the show. Likewise, Alexander Wang reinvented his classic womenswear line in a coordinated sportswear themed debut of track suits, running shorts, hoodies, sweatshirts and varsity jackets for men, while other designers captivated the comfort of sport-prep ensembles as pajama pants and blazers were seen on Louis Vuitton and Hermes runways too.

Rendered in thick knits and enduring leathers (both animal and imitation), the s/s ‘12 Y. Project collection—themed: “Personne: Somebody, Nobody, Anybody”—exudes a penetrating masculinity. High collars, asymmetrical zippers, rigid lines, engulfing hoods and minimal embellishments create the look of a timeless urban warrior. Although the collection is intended for both men and women, the rugged veneer dominates its refined execution.

Claiming to “dissect the values given to clothes in this society of perpetual movement,” Serfaty approaches apparel with the same panoramic creativity that a mathematician might apply to an unsolved theorem. Every detail is complemented by its discards, every cut balanced by hypotheticals. Serfaty’s armorial aesthetic is a combination of philosophy and presentation, a living, breathing experiment in avant-garde conceptualism and timeless design.

Elie Saab and Valentino were at the forefront of the “Naturalists” movement for s/s ‘11. Both houses offered neutral/cosmetic color palettes in varying shades of ecru, nude, tan, taupe, greige and dusty rose. Transparency was also a major theme, applied in a demure manner that was more sensual than sexy. Flora, a classic symbol of spring, was also a key motif interpreted in countless ways: printed on panels of chiffon, sculpted into tailored jackets and appliqued on evening dresses. Elie Saab’s standout blush colored dress was like a wearable garden, embroidered from décolletage to hem in three-dimensional, lace blooms.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, “Futurists” Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy and Armani Prive showed collections referencing robotics with high-tech fabrications and finishes. Tisci acknowledged robot toys as one of the inspirations, and the entire collection was white with pops of shocking color, including citron, tangerine and chartreuse. He also embroidered a glossy, neon pink robot face across the back of a structured bolero, which was shown over a 21st century kimono with origami pleating and a skirt of ostrich feathers and organza. At Armani Prive, inter-galactic glamazons wore fabrics engineered with metal threads that gleamed like Star Wars‘ C-3PO. Mr Armani also scored the accessory of the season with a flying saucer-shaped metal head piece created by master milliner Philip Treacy.

JC Report: What makes Layers distinct from other London retailers?

Keven McDermott: Layers is a self-distinguishing entity in many ways—from the designers we carry, to the resulting store-aesthetic they have inspired us to create. Our store is unavoidably gallery-esque, as it is essential to present such carefully crafted garments in an artistic light. What sets us apart is the warmth our space provides to a collection of labels that are consistently associated with cold, dark, morbid humors. We’ve created a clean, open, well-lit and welcoming environment whose infinity rail-system provides a sense of continuity and flow both echoing the cut and motion of many of our garments, while contrasting the common misassumption to do with their attitude.

JCR: The labels you stock are quite artisanal, dark and romantic. Who is your core audience?

KD: There is a breadth of people from all walks of creative and commercial life that are drawn to the labels we carry. People working in the fashion industry itself (designers, stylists, photographers, publishers, editors, writers, bloggers and models) to people working in seemingly unrelated fields such as actors, advertisers, city workers and financial advisors. When you carry brands whose aesthetic isn’t driven by some main-market effort to satiate popular trends, your client base is built of people who simply appreciate beautiful, one-of-a-kind garments.

JCR: What are your best-selling brands?

KD: Considering we had opened quite late in the season, we have had a fantastic reaction. All our brands have performed exceptionally well across the board. Our line up of men’s Japanese labels—such as Devoa, Julius and The Viridi-Anne—have performed incredibly well, as have two young American labels that are exclusive to us in the UK: Odyn Vovk, who is based in LA, and InAisce, who is New York-based. Fantastic performers for our womenswear floor have been Forme D’Expression, Lost & Found, MA+, Guidi, Damir Doma and a young label from Torino in Italy called Serien Umerica.

JCR: The location is quite central and your aesthetic is quite focused, which many would call niche. Is this a sound strategy?

KD: Seems sound enough. We’re sandwiched between two seminal design houses in an area that has more foot traffic than anywhere else in London. We are no more (or less) niche than Yohji Yamamoto, or even Issey Miyake, both of whom we share a sartorial street corner with. The two aspects of fashion that we cherish and champion—the avant-garde and the artisanal—are echoed by our design neighbors on Conduit Street and the world famous bespoke tailoring of Saville Row to our south. We had no interest in tucking ourselves away in a difficult to find dystopian location, where only those who already knew who we were and what we sold could find us. We are trying to create an uncharacteristically warm environment where any Londoner can appreciate the unsung work of the designers we support, and there is no better canvas for such an effort than central London.

JCR: Why is this an ideal time to launch Layers?

KD: London’s retail fashion scene has been sitting stagnant for a frustratingly long period of time. We feel as though we are simply filling a gap—a gap whose existence is acknowledged and felt by the already existing fans of the lines we carry, and even by our friends and associates working in the London retail scene. Our store’s direction isn’t anything that doesn’t already successfully exist and thrive in New York, Paris or Tokyo. Now Londoners have somewhere they can go to experience a culture, which has long been received with excitement in the fashion capitals of the world.

JCR: How do you unite the brick-and-mortar and online shopping experience?

Michael R Takkou: We worked closely with our web designer to make sure every aspect of the website echoes and/or reflects the aesthetic, attitude and energy of our brick-and-mortar space. This is achieved through our signature color palettes, which you find in the store design and the web design. We pride ourselves on offering the same high level of personal service online as well as in-store. We have a team of incredibly knowledgeable and passionate people who aim to create a bespoke shopping experience for all our customers.

JCR: Tell us about the curatorial initiatives to cultivate young talent?

MRT: London is a city full of creative talents, many of whom are overlooked. It is one of our aims to promote young artists, by offering them a platform on which to showcase their work—both on our website, and in the store itself. We have a section on the website called “Layers Presents” which is where we shall have biographies and images of the young creatives and their work. We plan to hold regular events for the young talent that we find, to give them the exposure that we feel they deserve. We are always searching for young designers, silversmiths, artists, videographers and musicians, who we feel connect with our aesthetic and vision. We swill also be doing collaborative work with the young talent that we source. The creative young talents and the Layers creative team work together to create a new collaborative product, which will be exclusively available in store and online.

The hip retail empire and the storied fashion house have teamed up to release a limited edition piece featuring splashes of magenta, polka dots and the like, integrated into the equestrian motif. The collaboration’s campaign, J’aime mon carré, features a parade of It-girls wearing the scarf in various ways—from belt to headband to a doo-rag—with each look accompanied by a handy how-to-knot guide. The scarves—and promo parties, to be photographed by Matt Irwin—will be available in London, New York, Paris and Tokyo from September 27 to October 16.

What’s hot right now?
Craft and the art of design–whether it’s perfume, furniture, fashion, film, or music–is very appealing to me. I really appreciate and admire the skill and time it takes to create true art in design. A personal example is the “carnivore scent” we created for the Katerina Jebb’s exhibit In the Realm of the Senses at the Brachfeld Gallery. Using the inspiration of carnivorous plants and the sensuality of nature, we designed a perfume that is deep, textural, raw, and intimate.

Who are your favorite fashion designers?
My favorite designer is Tomas Maier for Bottega Veneta. When I wear a Bottega gown, I instantly feel feminine, luxurious, and radiant. The craft and attention dedicated to the fit, fabric, and color of his pieces is undeniably unique and brilliant. I only wear Bottega to events. I also appreciate the aesthetic of Vivienne Westwood.  Her loyalty and respect for a woman’s shape and sensual nature speaks to me and my desire to feel strong, confident, and sexy when I dress. I love her vintage corset and pencil skirts.

What’s new in perfume?
I am in awe of the work done by Francis Kurkdjian and Frederic Malle. Francis for his innovation, clarity of vision, and using classic structures for modern scents. Frederic for his signature and unique fragrance profiles. One outstanding trend in perfumery would be a pure, clean, fresh, modern, soapy, aldehydic musk feeling. The other is dark, dirty, and textural with animal and spice notes. I personally prefer the latter.

What do you enjoy doing when in Paris?
I love having long, intimate dinner parties with friends with lots of good wine and lovely food. I also like vintage shopping in the Marais and at fairs outside of Paris.

What’s hot now?
Blitz Tequila is really really hot right now. Drink it and you’ll feel in the know right away.

What do you think is the best thing happening in Paris at the moment?
I like the fact that Paris has become a world capital again. Since the financial cities have lost their steam, Paris has come back as a place to focus on and there are a lot of interesting things happening in the city. I have the impression that Paris is experiencing an unprecedented entrepreneurial drive. Everybody has a personal project or business idea these days—fashion brands, restaurants and concepts are popping up everywhere.

When not in Paris where is your favorite destination?
I have a lot of favorite destinations, but tend to prefer those with great room service.

What’s your style and does it reflect your lifestyle?
I am venturing into preppy big time. I’ve recently had suits made by Thom Sweeny, a great taylor in London. I like Kitsuné or Ralph Lauren for their New England college looks and just got a pair of Tricker’s as well as a pair of Church’s shoes. Since I am actively pushing a tequila brand and about to open a karaoke restaurant, I doubt that style has anything to do with my ventures. I guess that I grew tired of sneakers and streetwear. Also, I just turned 35 and may have more gentlemanly ambitions.

What’s hot right now?
Loic Prigent’s Le Jour d’Avant tracks four design houses—Proenza Schouler, Sonia Rykiel, Fendi, and Jean Paul Gaultier—in the 36 hours before their Fall 2009 Prêt-à-Porter défilé, (with the exception of Gaultier, who is captured before his Fall 2009 couture show). La Pâtisserie des Rêves is the new pâtisserie in rue du bac by Philippe Conticini—it has the best Paris-Brest and Saint Honoré in Paris. L’Eclaireur was reopened in October 2009 and is the best multi-brand concept store in Paris. Designed in association with the Belgian artist Arne Quinze, the large space—450-square-meters—has a good selection and you will never leave empty handed. Cire Trudon’s les cierges camées and cierges imperial perfumed candles are my favourite ones. The Trudons became the official candle makers to the French Court and managed to make it through the revolution. I also can’t wait for the first Hermès Rive Gauche boutique that will be opening soon in place of the old swimming pool at the Lutetia Hotel, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Who is your favorite fashion designer?
Yves Saint Laurent, Coco Chanel, Cristobal Balenciaga, Azzedine Alaïa, Alber Elbaz, Phoebe Philo, Olivier Theysken and Rick Owens.

What’s the best city for design at the moment?
It depends on what kind of design and style. In my opinion, Paris is always the best city for design. The most important thing is you must be in love with the city. It inspires you.

Where is your favorite place in Paris?
Palais Royal, Deyrolle, art galleries in rue de Université, rue de Lille, rue des Saint Pères, Café de Flore, L’Hôtel rue des Beaux Arts, Le Grand Epicerie at Le Bon Marché, Upper Marais area, Porte de Clignancourt, Azzedine Alaïa boutique in rue de Moussy, L’Eclaireur on rue de Sévigné and a small antiquaire “Ivoine” on place de Furstenberg.

What are your favorite places in Thailand?
My home in Bangkok, brunch and dinner at Madison and Biscotti at the Four Seasons, Salon de Thé at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Resort, the floating market, spas in Phuket such as Amanpuri, Sri Panwa and Chiva-Som (Hun-Hin).

Laura Minquini is a specialist at decoding and forecasting culture and market changes, while finding the people that will drive the fashion and luxury business in seasons ahead.

What’s hot right now?

I just finished working on my upcoming Fall collection and I must say it is smokin’ hot. I’m not so much of a party freak and I have very, very long working days—when I have some time off, the hottest thing for me is a bottle of Bordeaux, scented candles and a warm bath.

What are your favorite trends at the moment?

I’ve always thought “trends” were an annoying concept. The best trends are the ones that individuals create for themselves. The trendiest trend is to be unique.

What kind of shoes should women get for the s/s ‘10 season?

Mine. Because they’re the sexiest.