Looking Forward: Best of Pre-Fall 2010

Pre-fall collections are often an indicator of what we'll be seeing at the upcoming a/w presentations & for Vnyc, each pre-fall presentation is, to some degree or other, a collection of re-tweaked references which provide focus and inspirational direction for our future buys. There is a heavy early 70's theme to many of the pre-fall shows this time around, the strongest being Chloe, Prada & YSL. The oughties obsession with exaggerated 80's proportions seems to have fallen out of favor, replaced by a softer, slightly nostalgic sort of luxe.

Celine-(also shown above)
After a decade of over-wrought maximalism and heavy-handed "urban warrior" propositions, Phoebe Philo's clean, cool and confident outings at the once quiet Parisian house Celine are filled with the kind of pragmatic sportswear and luxe-low key essentials that have won her a bevy of fans worldwide. Mariner sweaters, laser-cut leather outerwear, smart uses of fur, who would have ever thought that classic minimalism of this ilk could once again look so fresh? Long story short, Philo is a woman designing very smart, alluring pieces for women, and we want everything.

Vera Wang-
Taking a smart departure from her arty inclinations, Vera Wang's recent outing was a take on urban-minded gear somewhat borrowed from the boys in moody gray's and standard blacks. From boy blazers to military inspired parkas and plenty of pretty 20's inspired sequined cob-webby evening looks(giving Rodarte a run for the money?), Wang's range was expansive and right-on. One of us has been on the look-out for inventive uses of fur, and Wang's gray fuss-free parka with it's Mongolian fur patched pockets may just be exactly what we were looking for.

Missoni-
After a few hit-or-miss seasons of tweaking her family's legendary heritage, Angela Missoni was back full force with one of the smartest winter oriented collections we have seen in a long while. The house's signature zig-zag prints were used in a variety of head-to-toe looks that looked more calm and collected than the disheveled powder faced Victorian doll of season's past. Each look was layered with multi-tasking softly structured graphic sweater coats, blanket skirts, tweed suiting and scores of layering essentials that came in a soothing color palette of warm corals balanced by various grays.

Yves Saint Laurent-
A glamorous take on 70's France and classic house signatures at YSL.

Chloe-
Trim English inspired suiting with a relaxed slightly 70's loucheness, Hannah MacGibbon keeps getting it right at Chloe.

Prada-
Nerdy 70's era campus inspired cuties at Prada where the looks where anything but whimsical.

Sonia Rykiel-
Some of the smartest, coolest winter layering options around, we really dig the vast variety of 70's inspired knit options.

Chloe Pre-Fall 2010.

I dunno kids....I've loved Hannah MacGibbons' work for Chloe from the get go. I've also been hunting around for the pre-fall without any luck. Now I found it - a whopping 4 look collection - on a site that rarely lets me down, and that I love even more so for its relatively primitive interface- The Fashion Spot. (Incidentally, it's poached from WWD which I refuse to pay $130 a year for.) Well, I can't say as much for HM's quartet of early Seventies, Carnaby Street style looks. Maybe it's buried deep in the interwebs because it is pretty, well, just ok. Maybe there are only four looks because she decided to give up on the theme and look to another source of inspiration. All that said, I'll with-hold judgement. As I said, who's to say it has any bearing whatsoever on what we'll be seeing a month from now give or take. What do you think?