No Must-Have Look for Spring/Summer 09: China Daily

Call it sand, skin or champagne: There was a steady parade of nude colors on the runways, although models weren't necessarily showing a lot of skin.

"Everyone did nude, but it wasn't lingerie nude all the time -- it was an interesting mix with yellow and orange," observes Price.

And, she adds, these flesh tones weren't used to complement delicate, romantic pieces as much as strong, futuristic looks.

Designers offered up the modern goddess as their collective muse, showing a string of one-shouldered looks. Most of the outfits were evening gowns but the asymmetric style was also popular with more casual, shorter silhouettes.

The gladiator may reach its full height of popularity in spring '09. What started as a flat summertime-sandal alternative to the ballet slipper has gotten a progressively higher heel as the years have gone on. The shoes on the runway this go-round had towering heels, tough-girl styling and sometimes seemingly unstable architecture.

While a more relaxed shape dominated, there was a proliferation of tight corsets, too. It was the yin to the yang, and the "va" in vavoom. Corsets were featured in old-school cocktail dresses and playful rompers. Prada also adopted bra tops, so the lingerie look may linger awhile.

Either the fashion industry isn't going to let the shaky economy drag it down -- or designers are trying to escape it. There was a clear tropical influence on the clothes for spring-summer. If nude is the must-have neutral over standard black and white, then tangerine orange and hibiscus pink, along with ocean blues, are the favorite infusions of color instead of pastels.