More than 200 guests responded to the 8am call from Brown Thomas to the preview of the autumn-winter 2017 collections on a wet July morning. Pianist Keith Steere on a grand piano and the Alpha Strings from Dublin set the tone of the show in a totally white setting – the better to highlight clothes from the world’s international designers.

Summing up the winter collections, womenswear director Shelly Corkery (in a Elizabethan-style black velvet Dior dress with a white ruff) described the look as “glamorous and feminine – men’s fabric in feminine shapes”. Daywear dresses, mostly long and floral, were romantic in spirit while others – top-to-toe red numbers complete with red tights and red shoes – were a definite winter trend. Velvet made a big impact everywhere in different ways, as did embroidered denim jackets (for men and women), oversize tweed coats and jackets, along with the zany and exuberant confections of Gucci.

Three pieces from Delpozo by Spanish architect Josef Font, new to Brown Thomas, ended the show with headturning sculptural coats notable for shape and colour reminiscent of Cristobal Balenciaga.

We picked 10 outfits from the show’s line up of 100 from more than 30 international designers for a taste of the winter offerings.