The pre-fall collections are rolling in with promises of everything from coats to dresses, suits to separates. The mood is leaning toward optimism with a good dose of going-out clothes, but watch this space for updates on the best looks from all the major houses, big and small.
This article originally appeared on Harper's BAZAAR US.
Riccardo Tisci introduced a new project called Friends and Family at Burberry with pre-fall. “I wanted to explore a different experience bringing my collections to life, so I have decided to open up my pre-collection to a new creative voice each season,” he explained in the collection notes. “Someone special to me who inspires me and whose unique creativity surrounds me in my personal life.” First up to help reimagine the British heritage brand is model Lea T, Tisci’s longtime muse and collaborator. “Looking at the history of the brand, I see interesting things that can be linked to an urban life, but also the desire of those who escape to the wonderful woods of England,” T said. “It’s the respect for this nature and one’s own nature that I wanted to explore.” That almost Rousseauian ideal came through via relaxed silhouettes, like a patchwork trench, an oversize car coat cut in soft fawn and deep fern green gabardine, and wide-leg trousers split at the seams. Botanical prints and bags big enough to carry a potted plant were definitely a vibe. Even the famous Burberry check let loose, reworked as a new exploded chevron pattern on chunky knits and a cashmere cape.
Maria Grazia Chiuri is going with a new look for prefall 2022 Dior collection. No, not the archetypically feminine wasp waist, full skirted New Look founder Christian Dior made famous (although graphic bike shorts and matching jerseys spelled it out in block print). Instead, Chiuri looked to the strong women who surrounded M. Dior, like his sister Catherine, a member of the French resistance, and members of his design team, Marguerite Carré and Mitzah Bricard. This formidable trio served as inspiration for the collection’s tartan skirts blown up to supersize proportions and punkish takes on school girl uniforms. A slogan tee quoted Simone de Beauvoir: “Femininity is a trap.”
Pre-fall "comes in the form of a message from the past about what could have been and never was," the show notes read. "On The Lost Tape, a fashion show is characterized by the people and things that defined this late-'90s era, directed by Harmony Korine." So it's a trip back in time to a murdered-out version of the grunge-meets-raver era through the eyes of one of the time period's most famed directors. There are low-rise trousers with Balenciaga logos peeking underneath, oversized parkas, flowy unfussy gowns, and trench coats. Shoes run the gamut from thigh-high cowboy boots to slippers. Demna (as he will now be known as, sans last name) continues to make simple-but-not cool and wearable collections.
Gabriela Hearst and Chloe are making incredible strides toward full sustainability—the collection is made of lower-impact materials, which now account for 70 percent of the product on offer (up from 40 percent in winter 2021, 55 percent in spring 2022, and 58 percent in summer 2022). The collection also includes circular denim, a project developed in collaboration with Adriano Goldschmied. The style is true louche French classics that are true to the Chloe DNA: camel trenches, leather coats, knit dresses. It's Parisian bohemian created responsibly.
Wes Gordon designed costumes for the American Ballet Company earlier this year, and clearly, it had an impact. "The beauty and power of dance was my inspiration this season. Through movement, grace, sensuality, self-expression, energy, and electricity, dance lets us communicate far beyond the limitations of words," Gordon says. From tulle to black and white with hints of light pink (the colors of Fosse and Martha Graham), the ballet references are inescapable. But there's also fringe, a nod to Cher and flappers. It's all unabashedly feminine and beautiful, topped off with some pretty bows. "With this collection, I created pieces for our spectacular women to truly live their lives in. Pieces to fall in love with that transcend a specific time. Pieces to treasure, and above all, pieces that make her want to dance," Gordon says.
Chanel invited Parisian showgoers to Le19M, designed by architect Rudy Ricciotti. The newly opened building houses workshops for the maison’s artisans. Among them, embroiderers Lesage and Atelier Montex, goldsmith Goossens, the hatter Maison Michel, the feather worker Lemarié, the pleater Lognon, and the shoemaker Massaro. In other words, Virginie Viard is truly showcasing the craftsmanship and team effort that goes into creating each collection and show. Even the invite reflects this ethos. “I asked Dimitri Chamblas to choreograph the film that will be presented before the show. The invitation box includes a collection of texts by the rappers Claude MC Solaar and Abd al Malik, and writers such as Sarah Chiche, Anne Berest and Nina Bouraoui, recounting their vision of the Maisons d’art residing at le19M,” Viard explains. “There’s also a series of postcards taken from the animated films created by REMEMBERS. I wanted each model, drawn by a different illustrator, to represent one of the Maisons d’art and evolve in a little story inspired by a Chanel icon. I wanted to illustrate each House as best as possible, but with a twist.” As for the clothes, the look is a touch ’80s sophisticate through the Chanel lens. “Very metropolitan yet sophisticated, with tweed jackets with sweatshirt sleeves, graffiti-style embroidery in colored beads by Lesage, voluminous purple or royal blue knit Bermuda short-outfits, and casual coats worn open,” Viard says. “Many of the embroideries are inspired by the structure of the building itself, such as those by Montex, which are very graphic and in silver sequins.”
Proenza Schouler has mastered easy dressing that appears anything but. They get there with knitwear and clean cuts and silhouettes, but by adding details that elevate what might otherwise be considered basics. Make your oversized pants cobalt, put some feathers on your bike shorts, add in an animal print. Maxi dresses are a standout, done up in emerald green and a mix of white and cream. It all falls under the idea of what the brand is calling urban athleticism.
Erdem Moralıoğlu attributed an Eileen Agar quote to his pre-fall collection: “I have spent my whole life in revolt against convention, trying to bring color and light and a sense of the mysterious to daily existence.” He was inspired by the retrospective of Eileen Agar at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. Curated by Laura Smith, the exhibition was titled “Angel of Anarchy” and focused on artists' work in the '30s and '40s. She worked within the juxtaposition of controlled English politeness and sexual abandon—which is where this collection comes in. Unerringly ladylike and beautiful, it speaks to the secrets under the crinoline, if you will, pairing little cardigans with sequin skirts and finding that balance of the reserved and the brazen.