Karen Walker is New Zealand's most successful fashion designer internationally and coincidentally is my favourite. This season inspiration was sourced from the novel 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea'. Dresses in glimmering, pearly fabrics best reflect this theme. As always there was plenty of standout pieces, those fuzzy sweaters (pictured in navy above but also available in yellow) will no doubt fly off the shelves along with the tweed trousers, coats, statement shoes and many of Walker's other signature pieces. I have my eyes on the knee length coat featured above as an investment piece, hopefully it'll make it to my wardrobe!

Marc Jacobs collection reminded me of the costuming in both Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady. Why? The hats especially but also those Edwardian-esque skirt silhouettes. Jacobs himself, however cites both Anna Piaggi and Lynn Yaeger, two of fashion's eccentrics as influences. Every look that came down the runway was adorned with one of these extravagant hats, there was wool on wool on paisley over cropped pants and prints ranging from paisley to florals. My favourite items were the oversized bags resembling doctor's bags and the reworked brogues.

Rodarte are yet to go wrong it seems, and the Mulleavys are constantly reinventing their work. This season they turned to the Australian Outback for inspiration, and with shearling jackets making their way down the runways, it's possible they studied Nicole Kidman's wardrobe in the film Australia for inspiration too. Prints featured many a reference to dot painting and colours reflecting the Australian outback's landscape. Even the shoes paid homage to the landscape with grains of sand visible through the clear heels. My favourite looks are the dress featuring a Peter Pan collar with beaded straps for its versatility as well as the burnt orange dot print dress, in one of the duo's signature dress designs.

Image Credits:

-All Marc Jacobs, Karen Walker and Rodarte runway images are from Style.com.

-Karen Walker backstage photos documented by Sonny Vandevelde. See the rest of his backstage photos here.