For the winter 2012 collection, the CARVEN borrows from medieval styling. With fabrics inspired by lush greenery embellished with velvet or leather, city styling takes on a softer, luxurious feel, somewhere between belle de jour and belle du seigneur. New chalice shapes are designed to flatter the hips and create nipped-in high waists.

The colour range is rich and vast. Shades of saffron, curry, moss and sauterne mingle with cardinal red and deep midnight blacks. Paisley designs borrowed from the tapestries depicting 'The Lady and the Unicorn' give way to flag stripes in red, beige and royal blue. Fabrics are sensual, in high-tech velvets and satins, whilst prints hint at the troubling work of Hieronymus Bosch.

The neckline has warm touches of overdyed fur. Lace or simple cotton lingerie can occasionally be glimpsed through the plunging vertical slit at
the neckline. This winter, the CARVEN woman, wearing sophisticated clogs designed in collaboration with Robert Clergerie, steps out in with spiritual and dignified confidence.

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