Hemlines may once have been a cute way of monitoring the state of the economy – rather aptly, they are all over the place these days – but nothing gives a snapshot of global hard-currency health better than a flick through the September issues of the world’s glossiest fashion magazines.

Landing on newsstands with a reassuringly weighty thud early this month, the current edition of US Vogue has more advertising than any other American fashion or lifestyle magazine, with a whopping 631 ad pages. Yet it is still down 4.5 per cent on last year’s Lady Gaga extravaganza of 665 pages – which in turn was down on the magazine’s peak of 727 pages of ads in 2007.

The luxury sector may not have turned an economic corner – yet. And in fashion terms the mood is not exactly upbeat, either: think brown and black set against brutalist concrete architecture (Prada); corseted women hanging around in a drab hotel suite (Dior); and models trapped in a surrealist crazy golf course from hell, wearing equally disturbing knitwear (Kenzo). Yes, advertising matters, not only as a barometer of the spending trends of the fashion world, but also as a tone-setting exercise. The following images are how fashion should look this autumn/winter, straight from the designer’s eye, so take note.