What makes fashion week in Paris, New York or any other local so important? While most of us will never wear any of the runway fashions we admire, we will however allow our future purchases be influenced by the bombardment of runway regalia.

As women we are intrigued by fashion, it gets us noticed (hopefully in good way) and helps us break the bonds of everyday normalcy. This year we were captivated by a number of designers who let their visions run wild, inspired by everything from animal prints, to the vitality of color found in ethnic prints.

While many designers walk the line in fashion, careful not to go to far one way or the other, many have chosen to walk the road less traveled, creating styles that are both unusual and intriguing. Junya Wantanabe capitalized on a wardrobe staple like denim by enhancing it, pairing them up with cute smocked dresses. No high heels here ladies all the focus is given to ensemble, so the models wore only flat sandals. Another designer that manages to deliver the wild and unusual during Fashion Week is Manish Arora based out of New Delhi. With his vivacious explosions of color, one can only describe his show as a cirque de runway. The last but certainly not least of the bunch, I would have to say is Hussein Chalayan whose designs are absolutely breath taking, soft feminine fabrics that have a lot of movement, are coupled with bold designs that you can’t help but notice. These three designers really stand out and let us know that we should expect awesome colors and textures in the coming season.

Our favorite fashion guru’s like Jean Paul Gaultier gave us some great designs that were inspired by styles south of the border, while Prada and Louis Vuitton gave us more futuristic and flamboyant styles with exceedingly bright colors and jungle prints using light weight fabrics and paying great attention to detail.

All of those designers were great, but in my opinion the man of the hour was Karl Lagerfeld, to see his collection was like a breath of fresh air. He compiled classic cuts with feminine pastels for a luxurious ready to wear line. With tough economic times upon us, he provided the industry with a fashion safety net. When style seems to be timeless people tend to appreciate it more and will purchase it no matter what the economic conditions are.

In the end Fashion Week in Paris was an explosion of new and inventive ways to make us beautiful. Bringing us Roman inspired draping, sexy short dresses, and flowing layers. While there was not enough time nor space for me to mention every designer, know that each designers influence will be felt around the world by any and every women and man that buys clothing.