Chloe Raises the Roof at the Tuileries Tent in Paris | Photo: BoF

LONDON, United Kingdom — It was a fashion season of extreme weather. After the New York Fashion Week schedule was upended, first by an earthquake and then by the State of Emergency declaration that came courtesy of Hurricane Irene, an unprecedented heat wave in Paris threw buyers, editors and bloggers into a wardrobe tailspin.

The American editors were worst off, having packed for the European shows two weeks before Paris with no prior notice of the heat wave that was to come. After a few days of shows in impossibly hot venues, some of them resorted to ripping the sleeves off their outfits or just wearing their ‘airplane clothes.’

Brands tried to ease the pain. Fans were distributed at shows alongside champagne and much to everyone’s relief, Chloe arranged for the roof of the Tuileries tent to be removed for their show, letting in the sun and much welcome breeze. Meanwhile Net-a-Porter, always on top of a new market opportunity, delivered heat wave friendly clothes to editors caught without weather-appropriate attire.

But of course the real action was on the runway and in conversations between BoF and the good and the great of the global fashion tribe at a season filled with its fair share of events and parties.

Without further ado, it’s time to look back at Spring/Summer 2012, the season that was.

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L-R Ohne Titel, Rodarte, Vera Wang | Source: Style.com

The Volume Stays Up (NY Times)
“There seems to be no escape from the orgy of prints and color consuming the runways. It continued on Tuesday at Rodarte and Vera Wang, with runny floral patterns. It struck on Monday with ice-cream pastels at Preen, tribal prints at Donna Karan and blazing red at Ohne Titel… But if you look at many of the prints that have appeared this week, and the way they were handled, you don’t find that human dimension of wit and vulnerability. They don’t make you smile.”

Style as Seen Through Rose-Colored iPhone App (WSJ)
“Fashion enthusiasts—an image-obsessed group—are enamored with how Instagram turns a low-quality image into a moody composition. At the tents in New York this week, editors, bloggers and publicity people are donning Instagram’s digital rose-colored glasses and uploading images by the thousands, to the chagrin of some professional photographers.”

PPR confirms eyeing Brioni (Reuters)
“French retail and luxury group PPR confirmed it was in talks to acquire family-owned Italian tailor Brioni and added there was a risk the recent drying up of the debt market could affect the disposal of its mail order business Redcats… The deal this summer carried a price tag of about 350 million euros ($480 million)… If it went ahead, the acquisition would allow PPR to make progress on its pledge to strengthen its position in the luxury market and get out of retail.”

Rising cost of clothes could signal end to ‘cheap chic’ (Guardian)
“The days of “cheap chic” and throwaway fashion could be numbered, because the cost of clothes is rising at its fastest rate for nearly 15 years. The “fast fashion” trend, where T-shirts sell for £2 and jeans are priced at less than a fiver in supermarkets, is being battered by big increases in the cost of cotton, labour and transport.”

A Duo Clashes for Fashion (WSJ)
“Messrs. Hernandez and McCollough, both 33 years old, are considered leaders of a new school of designers in their 20s and 30s representing the next generation of big American fashion designers. This new breed is known for its willingness to experiment with fabrics and its ability to reinterpret classic designs for a contemporary audience.”

Zegna virtual store iPad app | Source: NY Times

Next Step for Labels: Cyber-Boutiques (IHT)
“The ultimate challenge for all luxury brands is to go digital — without losing their key attributes of individuality and identity. Yet click onto almost every big name fashion Web site and while the product offering might be tempting, the experience is often bland and only two-dimensional. The success of Net-a-porter.com and of its witty masculine version, Mrporter.com, is the magazine-style content that makes the sites entertaining as well as efficient.”

Super-luxury brands sail high as slowdown fails to impact Indian consumers (The Economic Times)
“Indian consumers are continuing to show strong appetite for luxury products even as consumption in the rest of the economy slows down due to inflation and sliding growth prospects… Sales of fashion accessory labels Jimmy Choo and Canali are growing 30% year on year.”

Sister act: Rodarte is New York’s hottest label (Independent)
“Buyers either see their work as exquisite sartorial investments, or shock-frocks destined to clutter sales racks. Reviews oscillate from hyperbole to hostility, some press applauding Rodarte as a blast of fresh creative fire, others condemning them as a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes… Both sisters fall into the pale and interesting camp – they look so alike they’re often mistaken for twins. In person, they’re less intense than their clothes initially suggest.”

And the BFA nominees are... (Elle UK)
“The BFAs honour the UK’s most influential designers, business leaders, models and celebrities… Two of the most important awards are the Emerging Talent Award for Ready to Wear and the Best Designer Brand honours… Up for consideration are J.W. Anderson, Mary Katrantzou and Peter Pilotto. In the more established category, the candidates are Burberry, Stella McCartney, Tom Ford and Victoria Beckham.”

Tavi Gevinson Explains Her New Website, Rookie (The Cut)
“15-year-old wunderkind blogger Tavi Gevinson launched her much-anticipated new website, Rookie (rookiemag.com). Originally conceived as a joint venture with Jane Pratt and Say Media, the site is now under Gevinson’s sole ownership (New York Media is helping with ad sales).

Classic Timberland Boot | Source: Timberland

Timberland to be taken over by VF Corporation in $2bn deal (Independent)
“VF Corporation… said outdoor clothing was among the fastest-growing apparel categories… ‘The Timberland brand is synonymous with high quality outdoor footwear and apparel… the company had been number one on its acquisition hit list for years.”

Clothes: Too much, too cheap (Independent)
“Blame the so-called democratisation of fashion if you will… consumers can ‘get the Marc Jacobs look’ only hours after the designer’s biannual New York show has taken place, and this despite the fact that the prototype… won’t go on sale until almost half a year later.”

Lululemon: Momentum Continues (Financial Post)
“Lululemon Athletica Inc.’s strong showing in the first quarter came despite unfavourable weather in Canada and the United States, lean inventories and a transition in its e-commerce business.”

Fash File: Umit Benan, Pitti Uomo, Rodarte (IHT)
“When Umit Benan won the Who Is On Next’ Pitti Imagine award in Florence two years ago… [the] designer was struggling to make an impact… But now this creative force is being nurtured at Trussardi, where Umit will be named this week both men’s and women’s designer.”

Alexandre Plokhov’s Poetic Elegance (Dazed Digital)
“Back in the early part of the new millennium when Hedi Slimane was making his indelible mark on menswear with his work at Dior Homme, a New York based Russian émigré called Alexandre Plokhov was creating a quiet revolution of his own with his cult label, Cloak… After a spell designing for Versace Homme, Plokhov is back with his own eponymous label.”

Laura and Kate Mulleavy | Source: Displaced Bones

Rodarte Steps Up to a Widening World (IHT)
“Over the past year the fashion brand, created in 2005 by the sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, made headlines not only for its distinctive ready-to-wear collections but also for its first foray into costume design… [Now] they have announced that they have been invited by Pitti W, the womenswear portion of Pitti Immagine, to be its special guests at its June capsule collection in Florence.”

Designers Focus On Trunk Shows; See Boost to Bottom Line (Thread NY)
“While it may seem old fashioned in the midst of the e-commerce boom (trunk shows, after all, were first popularized by Bill Blass following World War II), many designers are finding that nothing beats face-to-face time with their customers. And to rack up sales, many of them are spending months on the road with their most recent collection… $4,000 dresses don’t just sell themselves.”

Less Appetite for Luxury (NY Times)
“‘I realize how much I have wasted… This whole incident has changed people’s outlook’… Now, analysts say, the triple disaster has jolted the Japanese into a new reality, sapping the materialist, feel-good spirit and replacing it with a focus on helping others and a mood of back to basics.”

Prada soars ahead of Hong Kong listing (FT)
“Prada, the Italian fashion group, reported a surge in operating profit in 2010 ahead of an expected stock market listing in Hong Kong as early as May… Prada’s figures come amid a sharp rise in luxury goods sales among the largest European groups as consumers from China, but also the US, Europe and the Middle East snap up expensive handbags and shoes.”

Getting Ready for Jean Paul Gaultier (WWD)
“A talking facsimile of Jean Paul Gaultier will greet visitors to the exhibit of his designs making their debut June 17 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal… ‘This is not just a fashion show. You’re going to see at work a brain that uses the medium of fashion to influence pop culture and to reflect pop culture, and the technology that is going to be part of this is fascinating.’”