Who:
The London woman is eccentrically chic and has a great sense of humour. While that might once have meant wild hair, bag lady layers and a snaggle tooth, of late it has come to signify an idiosyncratic and knowing blend of streetwear with high-end modern classics, a combination of grunge and girlishness, and sleek but slept in, that the rest of the world is keen to ape right now, because it feels easy and looks great.

What:
That down-to-earth insouciance showed through in a preponderance of pieces you might never have expected to see on a catwalk but for recent trends: sweatshirts, T-shirts, denim, traditionally low-ticket items which have become a familiar sight on the front row in recent seasons and inform designers from the bottom up.

These were given haute twists, in terms of detail and fabrication, but retained a sense of hard-wearing and informal civvies in naïve, bright and bold colours. It was these twists that made up the bulk of the trends we saw in London: innovative and witty ways of making staples more statement, whether through surface embellishment as at Christopher Kane (where florals became a double entendre), print and pattern like Burberry's intricate laser cut leathers, provocative colour combinations at Jonathan Saunders, proportion and dimension from JW Anderson and Antonio Berardi, or a streetwise, alt attitude like Simone Rocha's. At Meadham Kirchhoff, meanwhile, deceptively conceptual but easy-wearing pieces were teamed with costume-inspired and couture-finished Jacobean styling quirks.

Wear:
Separates were emphatically present for spring 2014, not quite to the exclusion of all else but almost. If that feels odd given that it's more usually the season of the sundress, then just take a look at the anti-seasonality trend which swept New York last week.

London designers were less extreme in this directive (fewer coats on the catwalk) but no less practical, offering knits and jackets, and suggesting that even the gauziest and most summery pieces worked as layers too.

That isn't to say dresses weren't on the menu, though: there were plenty of them too, done with the most craftsmanship at Giles and Erdem, and the most bling at Topshop's Ibiza-inspired Unique show. If you're dressing for the sun,after all, you might as well look the dog's Balearics.

Click the gallery to see our biggest trends from London, or click the images to skip to your favourite.

"The London woman knowingly teams witty streetwear with high-end modern classics"

With thanks to Mercedes-Benz UK