Fashion: Raise a few eyebrows

In fashion, no matter the season, the one thing we can be sure of is that a new crop of items will suddenly acquire the epithet "statement". The most frequent bearers of the title are bags, shoes and other eye-wateringly expensive baubles. So it is refreshing that this spring the accessorial plutocracy has been broken and you need look no further than the bathroom mirror to find the latest catwalk must-have. All hail the "statement eyebrow" – now available in various shapes and shades.

For the truly brave, the gauntlet was thrown down at Marc Jacobs' and Diesel's New York spring/summer catwalk shows, where models managed to make bleached-out and blue brows respectively look like a credible beauty option. (Well, almost.) In London, Todd Lynn opted for fiercely black, heavily-pencilled brows winging out towards the temples, while in Milan, the Marni look marked a return to a naturally full, 1980s shape.

Admittedly, most of us won't ever sport technicolour eyebrows, but a little experimentation does make for a welcome change from the all-too predictable roll-call of summer beauty trends. And it's a good warm-up for autumn, when extreme hair and make-up really take centre stage, balancing out powerful silhouettes on the runways.

Of course, for those who have over-tweezed their way to eternally sparse brows, this trend will be tricky – unless you fancy becoming one of a growing number of women to opt for an "eyebrow transplant". Although with a price tag of £3,000, several weeks' downtime and considerable pain involved, it might just be easier to buy a handbag after all.