With temperatures plummeting and layers multiplying in Cambridge, spring fashion seems miles away. Yet across the channel in Paris, the magnificent closing of the Spring 2011 Fashion Week draws our attention to the return of warmer months.

This marks the end of the month-long extravaganza that takes place in the four fashion capitals of the world: New York, London, Milan, and Paris. Fashion month presents a preview of what designers will be offering and informs high street brands like H&M what they should be imitating in the next season. Industry insiders hotly anticipate the shows not just for the trends they forecast but for the sensory spectacle—and this year’s Paris shows certainly delivered. Jean Paul Gaultier’s last show for world-renowned luxury equestrian brand Hermès kicked off with a dressage display and a leather-clad Karlie Kloss, striding out with a smirk under a flat-brimmed sevillano hat. Miuccia Prada introduced her colourful and punky Miu Miu collection in a psychadelic dream setting, featuring comic book starbursts and lotus flowers. At Chanel, an 80-piece orchestra accompanied models on a black and white labyrinthine runway that stretched the entire length of the Grand Palais, evoking Karl Lagerfeld’s inspiration for the collection, Alain Resnais’ Last Year in Marienbad.

Notable guest models included Beth Ditto for Jean Paul Gaultier, Elle Macpherson for Louis Vuitton, and Brad Kroenig’s two year-old son for Chanel. Whilst Alexander McQueen’s successor Sarah Burton proved she was very much up to the task, with her new collection staying true to the brand’s history of tailoring and drama. British designer Giles Deacon’s tenure at Emanuel Ungaro commenced with a playful, witty interpretation of this season’s predilection for feminine pastels, lace, and draping.

What are you going to be wearing when you emerge from library hibernation and your toes finally thaw? Leather, apparently. Considering the lack of real sunshine during the English summer this cannot be too much of a bad thing, so feel sorry for those Milanese. Good news for the women of Cambridge, where cobblestones destroy hundreds of stilettos each day: Flat shoes are in, according to Chloé and Valentino. In fact, there is good news all around as this year’s Paris collection boasted a greater range of styles than we’ve seen in the past few seasons, from the delicately feminine silhouettes of Chloe, to the funky prints of Miu Miu with bold drops of red scattered in every collection.

And of course, Fashion Week would not be Fashion Week without those icons who are constantly pushing the envelope. Lady Gaga’s infamous meat-dress may have inspired Josephus Thimister to toy with a spatter motif in his collection, taking the 70s ox-blood trend to a more literal level.

With the close of that short glimpse of spring, it is now time to embrace the capelets and fur hats with the knowledge that warmer weather will bring with it a fascinating range of sartorial options. The contrast between brightly coloured 70s-chic and feminine ballerina pastels means that next season promises exciting things for everyone.