Out with austerity in with extravagance, that's the message from Sportmax for autumn 2014 and extravagant is exactly the right adjective as we saw rich, expensive materials used liberally on a polished line-up. 

Sportmax do effortlessness very well indeed and this season its streamlined aesthetic was made tactile with leopard, python and fox. Patchwork was a recurrent theme. When skins weren't used head-to-toe, it was patchworked on to separates. Leopard trench coats and sleek black blazers were trimmed with python sleeves from the elbow down while slit skirts and dresses featured graphic blocks of skins. 

Colour – and experimentation – came in the shape of a Jackson Pollock-inspired multi-coloured paint splatter print found on fuzzy macro intarsia, mohair or woven jacquard coats and funnel-neck sweaters. This showed a welcome deviation from a brand that usually plays it safe and neutral and it was a punt worth making. It still felt every bit as elegant and refined as previous collections, just with a bit of an edge. 

Special mention should also go to the fabulous boots. Cut right on the knee – a length we've seen at Gucci – they came with a satisfyingly jagged Perspex heel.