Have you noticed that in addition to the two big fashion weeks, several other smaller, but no less relevant, collections also have their place on the fashion calendar?
Fashion houses present two main collections every year: Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. Each collection is then divided into Haute Couture and Prêt-à-porter (or Ready-to-wear). In a time where everyone is constantly longing for something new, fashion houses realized they can’t solely rely on a bi-annual show system. To remedy this, they simply added more seasons. Resort and Pre-Fall seasons are small and relatively short, therefore, there is no fashion week for these collections.
What Are Resort, Cruise, and Holiday Collections?
Resort, Cruise, Pre-Spring, or Holiday are different terms used to describe the pre-collection that comes after Fall/Winter clothes have gone on sale but before Spring/Summer clothes are available.
There are “across-the-seasons” collections originally designed by high fashion houses for wealthy women traveling to warm places during the winter months. Back then, there was no glamorous runway or attention from the press. Collections were sold in the stores, primarily to freshen up their stock.
For Resort 2022, Chanel‘s Creative Director Virginie Viard derived her inspiration from the Provence region of the French Riviera. Gucci continues the celebration of 100 years of design by hosting a very Italian runway show.
What is Pre-Fall?
Pre-Fall is also a pre-collection and it hits the stores around May. From a commercial point of view, Pre-Fall satisfies the demand of the season changeover, when the main season collection (Fall/Winter) is not on sale yet and the previous one has gone on permanent sale.
For Pre-Fall 2021, the majority of high-end designers have created collections.
When do the collections hit the runway and when are they available in stores?
Here’s what you can expect:
Fashion Shows
Fall/Winter: February/March
Spring/Summer: September/October
Resort, Cruise: May
Pre-Fall: December
In Stores
Fall/Winter: September
Spring/Summer: February
Resort, Cruise: November
Pre-Fall: May
To conclude
Resort and Pre-Fall are inter-seasonal by nature so the designs are more functional and easy to combine with other elements of a seasonal wardrobe. They fill up the gap between the two main fashion seasons, Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer.
There used to be only two fashion seasons but given the fast-paced, constantly-changing era we live in, those days are long gone.
Adding up more functionality and style variations, pre-collections are getting much attention and an increasing number of brands are joining the in-between-season game.
