Fashion's Crystal Ball: Pre-Fall
For a Taste of What’s to Come in Fashion, Look at the Pre-Collections
Pre-collections have transformed into full-blown collections that provide a clue as to what to expect during fashionweek.
In the not too distant past, the pre-fall collections were second-rate affairs. "Before, they used to be dumb-dumb basics, Stanley Korshak couture buyer Susan Lana recently told WWD. "But in the last five years things have truly changed, and more designers are getting with it. They are doing collections that are sometimes stronger than what they'll send down the runway, because they know that is the time they will be doing the most business." Luca Orlandi of Luca Luca – a staple on the social- and red carpet-circuit – agrees. "Before it used to be basic for pre-fall. Now you are having real designer collections. I'm using 50 fabrics in pre-fall — couture fabrics, nothing basic."
One need only follow the money trail to realize how times have changed. "There is a major shift in the business that people are not realizing yet," says Orlandi, explaining that many of the buyers he deals with who order cruise have already written their orders in June. "The buyers do 80 percent of their [fall] buy with pre-fall, some even 85 percent. They want to buy then to guarantee deliveries at the end of May. We have to place fabric orders in December and January to get deliveries in April and ship in May."
Part of the reason pre-fall has been such a hit at retail is that the fabrics are lighter than those seen at the formal fall fashion shows, creating a buy-it-and-wear-it-immediately option; these clothes can also remain on the selling floor longer, unlike the short-lived heavy tweeds, wools, and furs of the fall proper collections. Oscar de la Renta has for years shown cruise collections that look like his spring show from the previous September. "We approach pre-fall as its own collection," notes Alex Bolen, president and CEO of Oscar de la Renta, explaining that the collection is the same size as fall and is shipped in May, while fall doesn’t arrive in the stores until July. "It's all about what's new for the customer. Those who deliver early pick up share just for being there…We want to have a certain portion be buy-now, wear-now, and hopefully the customer will buy it right away. Those things that work in the summer months wouldn't work in the later delivery."
Because pre-collections typically contain less “editorial” (ie. more commercial) items, the formal runway shows during fashionweek are necessary to keep the creativity alive. "We typically are not endorsing the idea of a whole season for pre-collections. We think that would negatively impact the essence of what makes them work well,” notes Ann Stordahl, senior vice president and general merchandise manager at Neiman Marcus. Orlandi agrees: "I think the two shows are different in nature. Pre-fall has lighter fabrics, and the February shows are more spectacular and more glamour, with fur and heavier fabrics, like velvets, where I don't worry so much about weight and price. This is for the customer who wants special things."
