Valentino bowed out of fashion in style. His last ready to wear collection dazzled the public with a gorgeous collection of gowns that floated down the catwalk in a confection of bows, ruffles, poufs and the bold, confident colours that he has made his own: Valentino red, of course; dashes of yellow; and polka dots on green and blue chiffon - were matched by long draughts of pure white.

There was also a nuance of farewell at Loewe, as Jose Enrique Ona Selfa showed his last collection for the house before Stuart Vevers takes the reins in January.

Hussein Chalayan took his usually high-tech offering to yet another level of impossible cleverness by showing it via video, while at Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci put a utilitarian spin on last season's military motifs.

With Karl Lagerfeld, Andrew Gn, Dries Van Noten and Christian Lacroix also bulking out the schedule, the fashion pack was completed and coloured.

Lagerfeld brought to the catwalk neon strips at the back of the runway glowed a vivid rainbow spectrum of red, orange, yellow, green - and then blues through purple.

Dries Van Noten presented a collection based entirely in prints, “I wanted to rethink my way of using prints - and making prints," said Van Noten.

Christian Lacroix made his name with exuberant and artistic prints, but he has learned to give them a reality check. Lacroix surprised his captivated audience with an Atlantis-themed collection, filled with water-y colours and flowing fabrics, that’s very subdued and very wearable.