Junya Watanabe

The invitation offered up the biggest clue – a drawing of Debbie Harry by the illustrator Shepard Fairey. Blondie’s Heart of Glass blasted out from the speakers and a parade of peroxide bedhead models appeared in leather dresses, some configured from leather jackets into full skirts, some with pannier pockets made of bags. S&M harnesses came over herringbone coats worn with brightly coloured or leopard print opaque tights. This was Junya Watanabe’s love letter to the singer, who had sung live earlier this season at the Coach show. Add Ms Harry to your AW20 style crib sheet now.

Celine

Hedi Slimane has firmly embedded 70s Parisian bourgeois as the new Celine look. Presenting just over a 100 exits for his first co-ed Celine show, his hero piece was the foppish frilled-front blouses worn by the guys and girls. A liberal sprinkling of Slimane’s rock’n’roll aesthetic ran throughout, particularly in the embellished outfits that literally shone – a gold two-piece tunic suit and cropped velvet bomber stood out. Slimane reintroduced the Sulky bag – named after the two-wheeled, one-person horse-drawn carriage on the logo – a classic Celine archive style from the late 60s.

Balenciaga

A post-apocalyptic petrol flood filled the room at Balenciaga. The set was semi-submerged in water, with the front rows disappearing into the blackness and models splashing through the water, dragging hem lines behind them. It was a comment on the times we live in, Demna Gvasalvia said backstage, but he also called this predominately black collection “a celebration of fashion”. “Black is the colour of Balenciaga; Cristobal’s early work was all in black velvet,” he noted. Other inspirations were priests and footballers, two subjects he fetishised during his youth in Georgia.

Hermès

Showjumping posts stood upended like a giant game of pick up sticks across the runaway at Hermès, a nod to the brand’s equestrian roots. The primary bright colours of the posts’ stripes and the show notes manifesto – “What is useful must be beautiful” – lent a Bauhaus sensibility to the collection. Riding references continued with a jumper with a silk scarf slotted through the neck and neatly tied, and an array of pleated skirts that wouldn’t look out out of place in Princess Anne’s wardrobe circa The Crown season 3.

Photograph: WWD/Rex/Shutterstock

Valentino

Usually a paintbox riot of colour, Valentino’s show opened with 25 black looks. Pierpaolo Piccioli cited both individuality and uniforms as the inspiration behind this move. By abolishing excess and embellishment and stripping back the collection to the bare bones he sought to offer clothes that showcase the wearer. The sombre colour palette certainly spoke to the current world mood, coronavirus being the No 1 topic of conversation at Paris fashion week. Trend takeaway: black is back for AW20.

Issey Miyake

The starting point for the collection, Making Speaking, Speaking Making, was the joy of making things and the connection it gives to others. The designer highlighted a group of onomatopoeic Japanese words that describe specific actions, for example “goshigoshi” – the sound and movement of smudging something, satisfying to both the tongue and the ear. The designer Satoshi Kondo reprised his partnership with the director Daniel Ezralow for a performance art catwalk show. The finale was a series of conjoined jumpers that linked models in groups of three and five via their sleeves.

Photograph: Pixelformula/Sipa/Rex/Shutterstock

Alexander McQueen

“The collection is a love letter to women and to families, colleagues and friends,” said the creative director Sarah Burton. It drew on the folklore and crafts of Wales and used intricate embroideries and quilting techniques employed on leather. A colour palette was black, white, blush pink and red, which, according to Welsh tradition, was thought to possess magical healing properties and powers of protection. A show-stopping silver dress encrusted with bullion embroidery of love spoons – a traditional Welsh token of love, usually carved from wood – stood out.

Givenchy

Opening with an all-black look topped with a dramatic, face-obscuring wide-brimmed floppy hat – a nod to the work of Hubert de Givenchy – Clare Waight Keller set the pace for a dark and moody Givenchy collection. On her mood board were French arthouse film posters, the artwork of Helena Almeida and the mid-century archive of the house, all adding up to a graphic film noir collection. Plenty of black and white punctuated, with arresting jolts of cherry red. Prints used square and apostrophe patterns. Some looks were swathed in huge scarves that riffed on the cape theme.

Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney had performers, in animal costume, hand out tree saplings to guests as they arrived as part of an initiative to offset the show’s carbon footprint. The “animals” joined models for the finale, underlining the animal- and cruelty-free ethics. Standout pieces included shaggy pile animal-free shearling and vegan leather coats for men and women plus a collaboration with the Erté archives allowing access to never-before-used fashion prints, including Tumbling Locks, Starburst and Jellyfish which came on panelled silk dresses and silk separates with scarf tie details

Chanel

“Romanticism, but without any flourishes. Emotions, but without any frills” explained creative director Virginie Viard about her AW20 collection for Chanel. Inspirations included the film Les Biches by Claude Chabrol and a photograph of Karl Lagerfeld in a striped suit wearing riding boots. Much use was made of heavily embellished costume jewellery that brought a distinctly 80s feel (think Like a Virgin-era Madonna). Hero pieces were hot pants and sheer logo hoisery and the hybrid riding/pirate boots that were worn turned down with every exit.

Photograph: Victor Boyko/Getty Images