Haute couture: verdict on the spring-summer 2015 shows in Paris

Haute couture is the ivory tower of fashion that most of us can only dream about. The world's wealthiest descend on Paris twice a year to view the best fashion money can buy, with prices starting at tens of thousands of euros for a simple dress or jacket.

This year, global celebrities, Middle Eastern royalty and increasingly affluent Asian clientele braved the cold (albeit in their furs and chauffeur-driven cars) to view options for spring-summer 2015. Overall, this season is vibrant, fresh and positive. Nature and tropical exotic lent much inspiration, but while some revelled in over-the-top red-carpet glamour, others chose a more interesting route via rustic country fields.

Whether it was the agenda at Davos' World Economic Forum, or China and America's game-changing climate agreement, our natural environment has been a huge topic this past year. This is evident even in the hallowed halls of haute couture serving that wealthy 1 per cent, although probably not enough to discourage those private jets.

Forests, trees, flowers and birds - designers took note from nature's beauty to dress the female form for fashion's most exclusive clientele.

Armani took inspiration from China and Japan with the iconic bamboo forming his central theme in a light and fluid collection: light hues of green, sheers, ink painting prints on gauze and organza, wide Japanese-style pants tied with obi-like belts and light ostrich feathers for lovely movement. Elie Saab was similarly ethereal, although with a much more feminine touch, using barely there silks and laces, hand-painted florals and a forest setting. Plumes of ostrich feathers were popular with designers this time around, so effective for their lightweight sculptural quality and capacity for drama. Giambattista Valli used them on entire capes, while it felt sensual and new for Saab.