A is for Archives - Pulling from the back catalogue was a major commonality in Paris, with many labels making a return to their roots. It was the most logical path for Christian Dior, whose design team was hung out to dry for their couture collection in July. This time around they kept it simple, to better reception, reverting to an older take on the New Look. Colette Dinnigan's hint at hindsight was more novel. Originally a lingerie designer, the Australian employed several swathes of lace from her backlog that never made it into production, resulting in delicate dresses of ultra-limited runs.
B is for Bench Collapse - The narrow rungs at Balenciaga were never made to be sat on, instead the show was meant to be taken-in standing. Of course, rows couldn't be done away with entirely - even when trying to defy hierarchy in fashion you never can escape it - so little dividers were set up with name cards to give guests their standing positions. These fine lines of status were taken as seats, and groaning under the weight of unreasonable expectation, they buckled when rested on. Their failure almost felt like a nod of agreement with the original unseated spirit. Fortunately the clothes withstood the test of this staging malfunction, offering a sport-sharp slant on those classic Balenciaga proportions thanks to tailored shorts, halter necks and near-QB jackets in speedy stiffened silks.
C is for Couture - So many ready-to-wear collections harked back to the golden age of couture (and capitalism) - that fifties and sixties period of exquisite execution and proportional extravagance - that it almost read as longing for more economically certain times. Dior, Rick Owens, Chanel, Sharon Wauchob, Rochas, and the presentation style at Jean Paul Gaultier all reached for the classics, with Cristobal Balenciaga's work receiving particularly heavy notation.
D is for Dries Van Noten - Himself a consummate gardener, Dries Van Noten's prints this season transitioned from verdant days of fern-struck nature into man-made, neon nights, all executed in a clean but silky style, with copious quantities of shirting.
E is for 'Electrocuted Martyrs' - Continuing down a spiritual path (religion and spooky styles are near inseparably fused) Rick Owens used this odd but crackling expression to describe his white swaddled seraphim, with their floor length skirts and bulbous shoulders that hinted where wings may have been.
F is for Flats - Haider Ackermann's last collection was hailed as an utter triumph, so it is perhaps not surprising that this season's offering fell a little flat, both in the footwear and design departments. There were some wonderful touches to the epicene, Lord Byron inspired range, like billowing skirts with man-strong jackets, and opulent genie pants, but on the whole it failed to reach Winter's highs, and at times felt overly complex.
G is for Givenchy - Scooped, undulating layers, stretchy, sporty tights and front flouncing ruffles that hinted at oysters and orchids rubbed-up against shark-tooth sharp tuxedo jackets, and actual shark tooth accessories in another extremely impressive Givenchy collection that showed, like a fin in the surf, Tisci has a talent for quickening the pulse.
H is for Hermes - Christoph Lemaire has shown an instant knack with Hermes, offering a range that felt long and loosened, like a yoga-toned adventurer. Quality fabrics like saturated, 'please stroke me' suede and shot silk advanced the collection's luxe-appeal, while elements of East came through in thick, low waist bands and flat fronted vests.
I is for Irridescent - Carrying through from his own line into new project Paco Rabanne, Manish Arora's generous use of rainbow-gleaming sci-fi leathers weren't needed to make his ranges stand out, but certainly helped. Yes, the look is a little bit cray-cray, but in an amazing comic book villainess way. The way this iridescent textile worked with the classic Rabanne disk dress was particularly effective, recalling a flash of fishy scales. Elsewhere Chalayan showed similarly shiny creations, in the form of barely visible, yet almost holographic, silver shorts.
J is for Jumpsuits - In a not unexpected piece of stunt casting, first run Kenzo creative directors, Opening Ceremony founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim sent a newly brunette Chloe Sevigny out to close their show in an Yves Klein blue jumpsuit. It was a punchy end to an equally graphic show of printed pyjamas, backpacks, coloured tubing and kitschy caps. A fun reinvention of the Kenzo house that saw the brand's original, youthful Paris meets Tokyo fusion jumpstarted with a shock of downtown New York credibility.
K is for Korean cash injection - Fans of clever cartoon clothing were devastated to learn of Jean Charles de Castelbajac's dire financial straights earlier this year, but the designer's latest showing was a definitive cry of 'I'm back, with backing', in the form of new label owners EXR, who plan on significantly expanding the Castelbajac offering to include a diffusion line, and a series of retail stores. The collection itself also felt more commercial, still with the comic book detailing, but done with a sense of subtly.
L is for Lace - Sitting stiff and far from the body at Miu Miu, yet practically a second skin at Colette Dinnigan, lace was inescapable this season. Valentino, Chanel, Louis Vuitton all dabbled in various forms, from machine spun cobweb-ery, to Broderie Anglais.
M is for Multimedia - At Chalayan, models sipped Champagne served by the designer himself, while minicams projected the interior of their mouths, while Gareth Pugh once again drew upon filmmakers to provide the eery backdrop for his powerful, insectine yet cagey collection.
N is for Niceties - From pale colours to longer hemlines, aside from the sluicing of sheers this season, fashion has become very polite.
O is for Orange - A beacon bright bolt against powdery shade, intense orange showed at Jean Charles de Castelbajac and Hermes, and looked poker-hot.
P is for Pirates - Tattoos printed mesh, corsets and swashbuckling pants all sashayed down the runway at Jean Paul Gaultier, but the odd thing was, despite the bawdy (though beautifully executed) theme, the models marched not to music, but in the style of a classic couture presentation, with an announcer quietly describing each look that hit the runway.
Q is for Questionable taste - Balmain's new designer Olivier Rousteing is a very, very handsome man, but his choice to take the house's brash, opulent shoulder-pads-and-short-skirts muse to the rodeo this season didn't do much to elevate the brand's ailing aesthetic.
R is for Racy - You may previously have associated Stella McCartney with slightly boxy shapes and a little bit of silky frou, but lately the British designer has come over ultra sexy. This season, she carried on with her sheer mesh paneling, creating a series of revealing little printed minis that flattered as they flirted.
S is for Sweets - Sugary shades like muskette, lemon pie, minty marshmallow and lavender were, like so many handmade marshmallows, utterly inescapable. They surfaced at Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Giambatista Valli, Costume National and more, often accompanied by extra sweetnes; wedding-cake icing lace, feather fronds like persian spun sugar, or duchess satin with cake batter lustre. Pure, icing-sugar white was ubiquitous, surfacing at nearly every single show, while at Comme des Garcons a creamy shade of meringue - and stiff whipped-up dresses to match the palette - was a constant confection.
T is for Tracksuit - By printing winding, sinuous serpents, adding an arms length of bijoux, cutting with a sense of zippy economy and picking a serious silk, Alber Elbaz somehow managed to reach a new level of unexpected chic at Lanvin, creating a very formal looking evening tracksuit. The rest of the collection, focused in a rare move for the designer, on separates, was equally covetable, sensuous and more than a little dark.
U is for Under the sea - Frothy tides and the life beneath the surface provided inspiration at both Chanel and Alexander McQueen this season, with Lagerfeld and Sarah Burton tackling sirens and waves in very different ways. At Chanel salt water was used to inspire an elaborate set of coral and bubbles inside the Grand Palais, while the tide sluiced something less than expected out of the house, producing a look that, like a bottle worn down by the sand and the sea, had a different texture from the standard Chanel fare, but was still recognisably of the label. Pearls and pearlescent finishes abounded. Meanwhile, at McQueen, the textures of the ocean bed, complex corals, elegant anemones, and undulating jellyfish, were used as inspiration for gowns so rich in detail they had the allure of sunken treasure.
V is for Valentino - Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli are a few seasons in to their stint at Valentino, and what the pair are doing for the brand is incredibly impressive. They've maintained that Valentino sense of the ultra feminine woman for whom evening is never a far off prospect - even when she's out to lunch - but their muse seems younger, fun and fresh. This season she was at turns ladylike in hand-painted velvet, girlish in lace, and, of course, ravishing in red.
W is for Weight of expectations - It had to happen eventually, and sadly this season saw an end to the dream run at Celine. Not that there was anything wrong with the range of bulky, strong lined trenches, tight, rectangular skirts and separates, it just didn't reach the dizzying highs of Philo's work for the house over the past six seasons.
X is for Xylophone - The menacing plinking of the Susperia soundtrack at the Louis Vuitton show worked as a dash of acidity against all that sweetness.
Y is for Yves Saint Laurent - Stefano Pilati works under a constant cloud of layoff rumours. This pressure, it seems, does not do him well, his prim yet sensuous collection once again received mixed reviews, with the highest praise going to an aspect of the range he wasn't responsible for: the shoes.
Z is for Zeitgeist - After a few years of fashion's spirit gravitating towards solidity, androgyny and clear, bright cleanliness, it seems to have floated off to a gingerbread castle in the sky this season. Perhaps you can call it the princess effect, or the erstwhile food high of royal wedding cake, but whatever it is, next summer is going to feel a little stickier, a little more encrusted, than we've become used to.