Design Extra - Pre-fall Collections

Six months between the main fashion shows is just too long a time for the way we shop today.  To satisfy the need to get ahead of the crowd, pre-fall collections started to hit our shops in May to bridge the gap between spring/summer and autumn/winter.

Whilst serious followers of fashion have been aware of pre-fall and cruise collections for some time (cruise arriving in September and originally designed for those jetting away to hotter climates), for many of us this is something relatively new.  It seems these inter-seasonal collections are picking up speed and becoming more and more important to the shopper and the fashion industry.  No doubt the attention they receive from fashion blogs and magazines is contributing to their success and encouraging more designers to get involved.

Browns, one of London’s main fashion destinations, is spending a whopping 70% of their budget on pre-fall, rather than waiting for the full collections.  This shows just how significant pre-fall has become. 

These collections are far more commercial and give a taster of what is to come.  For those customers who are lucky enough to buy into designer collections they offer an early opportunity to access the latest look or start to move into the next season’s clothes ahead of everyone else.

Clearly this is a good moneymaker! Michael Kors told US Vogue that ‘It has become the season you sell the most clothes’ saying these clothes ‘can be whatever season you want them to be.  Often it just depends on what’s on your feet.’

Even if I cant afford to buy these designer collections, to see designers ideas change and evolve is great inspiration for the rest of us and is something we can copy on the highstreet.