Of the six hundred or so shows that occur twice a year it’s safe to assume that only a handful (perhaps ten to fifteen) will directly influence the creative and commercial course of fashion for the next six months. Much in the way that there are must-have bags or shoes, you also have must-see shows. Balenciaga is one. The intimate setting and famously strict admission only adds to its appeal. And then there are the clothes.

Nicolas Ghesquière doesn’t receive his adulation from the critics for his forgiving silhouettes: often his tricky-to-pull-off-in-reality clothes never see the light of day on anyone other than the red-carpet brigade or 6ft beanpoles. And yet still, the influence that he wields on the high street and beyond is staggering. Thanks to Ghesquière we have the ever-upwards trajectory of fetish-looking shoes. Would cocoon coats and tulip skirts have had such an impact on our fashion-scape if he hadn’t plundered the Balenciaga archives? And what about the return of jodhpurs that got reworked and repackaged at Gap? Chances are you won’t be wearing his stuff in its absolute form but a diluted version should soon be appearing at a high street near you.

If Dior on Monday courted the spending power of the emerging markets, then Ghesquière’s collection yesterday shared some of that commercial bent. The very aggressive warrior woman of recent seasons had taken a break and in her place was something, while not altogether softer, at least a touch less extreme.

Cinched-in, black cocktail dresses with tailored folds and peplums were quickly followed by equally body-hugging pencil skirt and jacket combos in grey, gauzy, graphic patterns. While he hadn’t quite dispensed with odd-looking shoes – Perspex wedges with pyramid shells on the heels paid testimony to that – his footwear mainly comprised shiny, vertiginous stilettos with metallic trims and a monochromatic base that had the lethal allure of the Eighties soap character, Alexis Colby. Factor in the thick, glitzy diamanté cuffs (on both wrists) and the hefty choker and there wasn’t anything subtle about this approach. Black or burgundy patent coats, so form-fitting they seemed a second skin, were another idea he explored.

At times, his marriage of Eastern ideas with Western silhouettes worked: strips of eau de nil and chocolate velvet wrapped around the top half of the body, sari-style, were striking. Otherwise, his oriental prints on rubberised dresses seemed heavy-handed. Granted, Ghesquière has in the past referenced a “global nomad” style, but this time they felt a little too staged. Do consumers from the Far East want to see traditional landscape prints from their heritage on modern clothing? Probably not.

If Balenciaga really wants to ramp up its Far East sales then accessories are something its parent company, Gucci Group, knows about. For labels such as Gucci, accessory sales can make up 60 per cent of turnover. And while Balenciaga is known for its stronger ready-to-wear sales, that blingtastic bag might arrive sooner than you think.

Times recommends

• Live fashion chat: How to stay warm and chic
• How I lost the gift of joy for a while
• The A-Z of winter style rules