Colours suggestive of the riches of the East

Bright primaries alongside more typically challenging hues feature For spring/summer 2011, autumn's sober colour palette – and indeed equally subdued silhouettes – has been over-turned in favour of a rainbow-bright spectrum that speaks of optimism and happy times ahead.

A case of fashion flying in the face of economic adversity, no doubt, thereby ensuring the world is a more radiantly beautiful place to be. Bright primaries alongside more typically challenging hues feature at Prada. Add to this a flash of fluoro at sister label, Miu Miu, and from head-to-toe at Christopher Kane, where neon leather finished to look like lace was rather brilliantly undercut by more stolid Argyle cashmere twin-sets, and the look is as intense as it is bold and blithe.

Equally extraordinary was the sheer depth of colour at Raf Simons' Jil Sander where everything from the exotic plumage of rainforest birds to techno-bright sweets wrappers provides inspiration at a label generally best known for understated elegance, but for now quite dazzling in appearance. The work of Yves Saint Laurent provides inspiration too – the late fashion designer is perhaps the greatest colourist in history and the major retrospective held in Paris last year has wielded an influence. Colours suggestive of the riches of the East, meanwhile, appear at Louis Vuitton, Hussein Chalayan and duly restrained (very restrained) at Céline.