EASY SWEET
London: Richard Nicoll’s Pre-Fall was a relaxed take on proportion and texture, comprised of easy to wear body-skimming dresses and separates. Sheer layers arrived as tonal sleeves or staggered hemlines, their transparency further softened by feminine dropped waists and ruffle trim. Amid all of the diaphanous drawstring dresses and skirts, Nicoll interspersed subtle metallic trims and patch pockets, harder
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GEOMETRIC EXPERIMENT
New York: Color blocking is almost de rigueur in fashion at the moment, and designer Roksanda Ilincic chose to make it the centerpiece of her Pre-fall collection. Working in a simple primary palette inspired by Legos, Ilincic concentrated on simple silhouettes and versatile items like sleeveless shift dresses, boxy silk tops and straight skirts. Smart details like contrast cuffs
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DISTILLED COLLEGIATE
Milan: Pre-Fall provided Jil Sander fans a glimpse of what American collegiate means to Belgian designer Raf Simons, with a fantasy of classic Ivy-league signifiers like letterman jackets and stadium coats. In a retro tableux, Simons imagined his muse lounging about a sorority house in tunics embroidered with coded messages or wrapped up in her boyfriend’s oversized cardigan.
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SHAPING THE FUTURE
Milan: Antonio Berardi mastered a difficult merger of futurism and femininity for Pre-Fall, working cashmere and organza into gorgeously sculpted modern silhouettes reminiscent of Blade Runner’s groundbreaking costumes. Classic black and camel looked new infused with pops of safety orange, cherry and coral, especially when these bright touches peeked out from skirt linings or placket piping. Details like
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FRESH LUXURY
New York: Albino D'Amato succeeded in freshening his aesthetic this season with a collection that reached out to a younger audience. Switching gears from his sporty Spring direction, the designer represented a more pulled-together muse interested in a carefree luxury. With this in mind, D’Amato introduced both fur-trimmed coats and walking shorts, as well as brocade skirt suits and
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DUAL NATURE
Milan: Designer Alessandro Dell’Acqua chose to combine a very feminine and youthful direction with menswear for Pre-Fall, a mixture which benefited both trends. Boxy, masculine cardigans became playful with subtle sequin sleeves, while girly pastel pink trousers gained gravitas paired with a serious camelhair overcoat. Other key elements included a series of bomber jackets done up with bloused sleeves
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OPTIMISTIC INTARSIA
London: Jonathan Saunders swapped his obsession with prints for an exploration of intarsia knits for Pre-Fall, but this doesn’t mean he abandoned his love of pattern. In fact, the collection only added a new textural element to Saunders’ typically rich work, layering geometric repeats together for a mesmerizing effect. But the clash of color and pattern was never overwhelming
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A SWEET ECCENTRIC
Paris: Young Irish designer J.W. Anderson has come a long way in the past few seasons, adding a womenswear line to his already established men’s offering and now taking a stab at Pre-Fall for 2012. Known for quirkiness and his cult-hit paisleys, Anderson zeroed in on full-skirts paired with chunky platform loafers for a look reminiscent of
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EXPERIMENTAL EASE
Paris: Anne Valérie Hash has had quite a bit of success with her couture line, tailoring her work to fit the needs of a small group of luxury clients. Many of the advanced techniques she uses there shine through in her mainline collections as well, though for Pre-Fall she took a more relaxed approach. Easy fit tuxedo jumpsuits and
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MODERN ORIGAMI
Paris: Folding, pleating and draping was the foundation of Barbara and Lucia Croce’s first collection at Vionnet, an origami sensibility that informed their modern tunics, dresses and outerwear. A vaguely Asian mood suffused standouts like a patterned bronze zip-up top, stand-up collar jacket and black and white coat with kimono sleeves. Dresses were also simple but sophisticated, and long
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VOLUME ADDED
Paris: Comfort was the top priority at Damir Doma for Pre-Fall, a concern that resulted in voluminous blanket coats, wide-leg trousers and multiple layers of fur and wool. Swaddled from head to toe in neutral grey funnel-neck suede tunics, tapered gabardine pants and fringed wrap skirts, Doma’s models projected a mysterious air lightened only by a few more colorful
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CLASSIC CUTS
Paris: Stefano Pilati understands how to modernize Yves Saint Laurent for the millennial customer. For Pre-Fall, he played soft against sleek, mixing stately collarless jackets and knife-pleat trousers with diaphanous, oversized sleeve poet blouses, or tucking silk scarves into slick leather dresses. Patterns worked best when they remained subtle, in particular a tone-on-tone leopard motif on a silvery wool
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FLORID RESTRAINT
Paris: Balmain’s new designer Olivier Rousteing is well on his way to artfully redefining the French label recently famous for excess. After just a few seasons, he has toned down the rock and roll aggression Christophe Decarnin favored, choosing a sophisticated yet edgy alternative of more relaxed proportions, strong shoulders and printed silks. Not long ago, wide leg trousers
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OUT OF PROPORTION
New York: The Acne label often plays with contradictions, experimenting with jarring colors, fits and silhouettes. Inspired by 90s adolescent angst for Pre-Fall, they took on proportion and layering, mixing mid-length outerwear with angular, wrapped miniskirts, boxy knit tops and cropped trousers. Silhouettes were sleek, with small notch collars providing clean lines broken up by touches of fur
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MIXED SET
Milan: If Consuelo Castiglioni has taught her fans anything about Marni, it is to expect the unexpected. The designer is a master of creating twists on fashion’s latest obsessions, and for Pre-Fall that meant new takes on new must-haves like the baseball jacket. Castiglioni’s version featured patterned fur sleeves, while her styling was a cross-pollination of sport and classic
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