Top 10 Shows of the Season

LONDON, United Kingdom — Another fashion month has drawn to a close. This season, all eyes focused on the highly anticipated debuts of Riccardo Tisci's Burberry and Hedi Slimane's Celine, while fashion's leading conglomerates LVMH and Kering battled for supremacy with major multi-million-dollar marketing spectacles at Gucci, Saint Lauren, Louis Vuitton and Dior. But it was brands like Prada, Valentino and Rick Owens that came out on top with collections that were impeccably crafted and sometimes engaged with the wider political zeitgeist.

Here, BoF picks the top ten shows of the Spring/Summer 2019 season. Which was your favourite? Let us know in the comments below.

1. Prada – designed by Miuccia Prada, MFW

Prada Spring/Summer 2019 | Source: Indigital.tv

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Miuccia turned her show into an intricate confrontation between liberation and conservatism, resulting in the most intense collection of the season.

2. Valentino – designed by Pierpaolo Piccioli, PFW

Valentino Spring/Summer 2019 | Source: Indigital.tv

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The glory of Pierpaolo Piccioli’s collection was its easiness: a clear and strong vision of contemporary beauty and elegance.

3. Dries Van Noten – designed by Dries Van Noten, PFW

Dries van Noten Spring/Summer 2019 | Source: Indigital.tv

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The collection was Dries at his very best, working the contrasts between high and low and marrying the functional beauty of workwear to the embroidered glories of something approaching couture.

4. Balenciaga – designed by Demna Gvasalia, PFW

Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2019 | Photo: Imran Amed

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The brand is not a project Demna Gvasalia will remould according to his whims. Instead, he is polishing and perfecting, refining a world.

5. Marni – designed by Francesco Risso, MFW

Marni Spring/Summer 2019 | Source: Indigital.tv

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Francesco Risso’s work for the Italian brand has so far been a protean proposal, glorying the great unfinished, but there was more discipline in his latest designs.

6. Marc Jacobs – designed by Marc Jacobs, NYFW

Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2019 | Source: Indigital.tv

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Collections like these can be a challenge for his sales and merchandising teams trying to commercialise his ideas. But at least the American designer is still dreaming.

7. JW Anderson – designed by Jonathan Anderson, LFW

JW Anderson Spring/Summer 2019 | Source: Indigital.tv

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The designer’s bright and Balearic collection was a measure of his maturation with hints of the leisurely sensuality he brings to Loewe.

8. Rick Owens – designed by Rick Owens, PFW

Rick Owens Spring/Summer 2019 | Source: Indigital.tv

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The designer was wrestling with his nihilistic mood, but what was most striking about his collection was how celebratory it looked.

9. Maison Margiela – designed by John Galliano, PFW

Maison Margiela Spring/Summer 2019 | Source: Indigital.tv

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In the midst of our deeply chaotic newness, John Galliano nailed the moment with a collection that put transformation at its core.

10. Paco Rabanne – designed by Julien Dossena, PFW

Paco Rabanne Spring/Summer 2019 | Source: Indigital.tv

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In Julien Dossena’s capable hands, a cocktail of far-flung cultures was shaken, not stirred, making for one of the season’s best collections.