The winding up of the long holidays is always accompanied by a mixture of emotions: the wistful sadness that surrounds the end of summer; the apprehension about getting back to the grindstone or starting a new school year; and the thrill of what is to come. But if ever we feel the trepidation particularly strongly, there is always one sure-fire way to ensure that the excitement levels exceeds the anxiety: and that is to flick through the lookbooks of our favourite high street and designer brands’ AW collections. Suddenly, the beckoning of the cold doesn’t seem so very daunting when we consider the knitwear and thrilling new coats we might don. These are the pieces that are making us feel good about autumn right now.

By Nancy Alsop
September 2022