The shows were a walking United Colors Of Benetton advertisement with a mix of black, Latino and Asian models alongside the usual gamine, fair-skinned models.

The queen of wrap dresses, Diane von Furstenberg, has long taken a multi-cultural approach to her model selection. This season, more than half, including Japanese Tao Okamoto and Jamaican Jeneil Williams, were women of colour.

Over at Calvin Klein, womenswear designer Francisco Costa, known for using young, white and waif-ish models, also had a more lively ethnic mix with a broader age range.

Costa included some who are well into their 30s and 40s such as supermodels Stella Tennant, 40, Kristen McMenamy, 44, and Kirsty Hume, 34.

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.