By the fourth day of London Fashion Week, a definitive trope of ‘Power Dressing’ – as told through a narrative of modern femininity – was presented as the central theme of many an SS19 collection, with likes of Roksanda, Emilia Wickstead and palmer//harding leading the way on this side of the pond.

Much to our delight, the quintessential ‘she means business’ garb of 1980s-tinged boxy shoulders came out to play on numerous occasions, modernised by a steadily sloping gradient that spanned out to XXL proportions. South Korea's PushBUTTON made its Fashion Month debut in London with shapes born out of the figurative ‘square box’ that designer Seung-Gun Park felt trapped by during the design process; Richard Malone introduced a smörgåsbord of standout styles in myriad flavours of sorbet and neon; and Roksanda Ilincic zoomed-in on the trend with blazers of glory to elevate everyday tailoring.

Calvin Klein 205W39NYC, Tibi and Sies Marjan collectively peppered the runway with larger-than-life creations, while Brandon Maxwell took shoulder padding to chic echelons for his contemporary customer; Salvatore Ferragamo put on a utilitarian display, entwined with bright tailored looks that teetered on the boxier side, and Etro welcomed in shoulders with slaying power to sharpen up its failsafe bohemian oeuvre.

Piercing, poke-your-eye-out iterations made their presence felt via Balenciaga, meanwhile Karl Lagerfeld balanced effortless draping (that moved in rhythm with the lapping shores of his show at Le Grand Palais) with a perfectly androgynous, structured shoulder at Chanel.

Can’t wait until SS19? Wear the trend now with our edit of best-in-show power shoulders: