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For designers, the demand for extra collections "is a new phenomenon, and the key is that fashion consumers are more informed than ever before — there's an ever-growing preponderance of magazines and fashion shows on television," says Tom Murray, the president of Calvin Klein
And while most of the fashion press and its readers — increasingly the target audience for runway shows — are seeing spring styles for the first time during Fashion Week, any store buyer worth his or her BlackBerry knows what is ahead Lauren started doing pre-collections last fall because of consumers' growing demand to buy designer fashion ahead of the conventional seasons, and more frequently than twice a year Eyelet dresses in dusty pastels The same colours and edging will appear again — "in day dresses, and evening, and pants and tops" on her runway tomorrow
"Day dresses are very important — a bit more whimsical and fun," Burke says There are also great sun dresses that are long — mid-ankle — from Jil Sander and Marni
In fact, retailers have had a major sneak peek "
The volume of clothing sold in pre-spring and pre-fall collections, just a trickle not long ago, has now remade the retail landscape, merchants and designers say
For example, Costa showed a sea-green silk dress "wrapped like a towel" in his pre-collection, he says S Depending on the designer, "up to 80 per cent, maybe even 90 per cent of the buy is already made — starting maybe back in June," says Suzanne Patneaude, the vice-president for designer apparel at Nordstrom The tweeds of fall will be followed by the tweeds of spring, especially in black and white In Vera Wang's pre-spring collection, she showed buyers a deep-gold sleeveless dress with a vaguely Hawaiian print in a dark burgundy A variation on the dress — the same colour and style, but mixing silk with other fabrics — will be unveiled on the runway as if it were a revelation at the Calvin Klein show Tuesday
Last year Americans spent an estimated $62 billion (U " Quietly exhibited in Seventh Avenue showrooms in the weeks and months before Fashion Week, the pre-spring clothes will arrive in stores from November through January, at least three months ahead of the traditional, post-catwalk orders Whereas pre-collections used to offer mainly wardrobe staples such as black pants and ivory tops, increasingly they embody the same glamour and fashion edge that a designer imparts to a runway collection
Interviews with retailers and designers about the pre-collections offered a glimpse of the direction of spring 2005 Designers like Francisco Costa, who took over the Calvin Klein label last year, say pre-collections serve as a "testing ground" for the runway Printed floral in chiffon She and other buyers have already visited New York, Paris and Milan — and much of what they selected is now being made in China, Italy and elsewhere
"The runway grows directly out of the pre-collections," says Nancy Murray, a spokesperson for Polo Ralph Lauren Like other designers, she still saves the most individualistic, drop-dead designs for the runway Pink is still big, but it won't be of Day-Glo intensity; greens and blues will appear "drowned," as if glimpsed through water The trend for ladylike clothing in bright colours is continuing, but everything is more subtle (goodbye, ruffles) ) on luxury clothes, shoes and accessories, up almost $4 billion from the previous year Leading department stores have already bought 60 per cent to 80 per cent of their coming spring 2005 fashions, from exactly the same labels, in a growing market known as designer "pre-collections Reading off a list prepared by his staff at Bergdorf's, he continues: "Sleeveless sheaths that are belted at the waist — very retro '50s
Wang orders fabric for both her pre-spring and spring collection together, ensuring that the two will be stylistically similar Sneak peek collections grow
Pre-collections increasingly crucial for buyers, retailers
Runway shows now target trend-hungry press and consumers
TRACY ROZHON
THE NEW YORK TIMES
NEW YORK—When buyers from the biggest stores in the world take their seats before the hotly lighted runways of New York's Fashion Week, they uphold the fiction that they are seeing the new silhouettes, the new styles and the new colours from American designers for the first time The dress, which he described as a hit, will be shipped to stores in late fall or early winter The fashion industry is jumping to fill stores with clothes when luxury shoppers want them: all the time She says she sells 70 per cent of her ready-to-wear clothes in pre-collections "Now the kiss of death for pre-collection is to shout basic," says Robert Burke, the fashion director of Bergdorf's |