There must be something in the air. Preen, like numerous brands this season, took a step away from heavily referential design (remember their consistently '90s fare of the last couple of seasons?) and dark hues, opting for a clean, super-neutral palette to set off minimal shapes. The collection felt effortlessly feminine, which was interesting considering that the majority of the clothing took its cues from mens' tailoring – something that the London-based Preen team, designer duo Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi, have over the years successfully made their signature, and what has brought them such renown in the sportswear-obsessed USA. For spring, Preen was back on top form, delivering the ‘ultra-modern’ day-to-night wear they’re best known for – blazers, pant-suits, and trousers were reimagined with chic, elongated lines and waists were cinched with streamlined cummerbund-like bands, the most striking of which was a sleek mod-rocker suit in electric blue. Skin was revealed beneath tailored jackets and reworked waistcoats paired with bandeau tops (a constant in collections this season), while accessible and downright pretty '50s A-line silhouettes, in both the origami-like skirts and sleeveless knee-length dresses, and breezy floor-length Arabic-print dresses proved a seamless shift in Preen’s excursion into both the masculine and feminine. The move towards light, bright colours and simple, structured shapes for S/S 2011, by Preen and numerous designers this season, is refreshing - I wonder if it is indicative of a global shift in mood and outlook for the new decade? After all the 2000's were all about terror and insecurity, why shouldn't the 'teens' be about optimism (at the very least where clothing is concerned)?