Top 5 Women’s Looks from the Pre-Fall Designer Collections

The overwhelming trend in our picks for women’s Pre-Fall 2010 collections is nostalgia for the past. Burberry Prorsum and Christian Dior found inspiration in military clothing and accessories. Lanvin redesigned the look of a French countrywoman, adding a posh, exotic flair, and Yves Saint Laurent channeled 1930s and 1940s glamour.

Burberry Prorsum

Burberry Prorsum’s Pre-Fall 2010 collection for women embraced colors appropriate for the season: wines, deep blues, olives, hints of traditional khaki, and of course, black. Interspersed with occasional military and floral motifs, the collection was predominantly focused on dressing women to be the picture of elegance. In this look, the model is wearing cropped navy pants, dark stockings and substantial black leather platform heels. Her jacket redefines the expectations of the Burberry trench; it’s short, slim to the point of being rakish, and rather than being khaki, is a deep not-quite-navy, midnight blue. The pockets are large and both the pockets and sleeves are accented by bright, shiny buttons. Her waist is cinched with a wide, flattering and simple brown leather belt. (Look 2, Burberry Prorsum).

Christian Dior

A step up from the military themes of Burberry Prorsum’s collection, Dior’s Pre-Fall 2010 photoshoot seemed to revel in WWII-era army chic. The model wears a frilly, clean white dress ending in lacy ruffles. Her nude stockings are tied with bows and run in a striped pattern down to her white, strappy, heeled boots. These ultra-feminine objects sharply contrast, yet compliment the polished helmet, smooth leather and shearling bomber jacket, and a handbag that although delicate, is decorated with what appear to be rows of bullet-shape perforations. The handbag strap is made from what looks like tough military canvas. The aviators add to her appearance of female fighter pilot that is based in the bomber jacket, while the jewels are a reminder that there is, of course, no war on the runway. (Look 10, Christian Dior).

Lanvin

Seemingly shot in a bourgeois country getaway, Lanvin’s Pre-Fall collection is a blend of modern and classic – drawing slightly on the 1930s and 1940s – as well as outlandish and simple, yet always luxuriously fashionable. This model wears an exotic blend of animal prints, a mix somewhere between a zebra, a tiger and a leopard, although no pattern emerges as a clear single entity. The dress has a classic silhouette, covering the shoulders, and has a full, flouncy skirt, cinched at the waste by an animal-print belt. Her hair is covered by a stylish scarf of the same material, conjuring images of traditional French countrywomen that are only banished by the realization that no simple peasant countrywoman would, or could, ever wear something this undeniably luxurious. Her elbow-length leather gloves simply add to the rich characteristic of the outfit, giving the model a cutting-edge, fierce look … after all, it takes a fierce woman to cover herself in jungle patterns. Her stockings are ornamented with a delicate spindly weave, almost resembling twirling vines. While her heels have a formidable height, they are delicate and trimmed with a bow. (Look 18, Lanvin).

Proenza Schouler

Although many models in Proenza Schouler’s Pre-Fall 2010 are heavily draped in thick animal furs, the collection is essentially wearable, understated, at times daring in pattern choice, and ultimately deceptively simple. The model is wearing a rigidly lined, feminine interpretation of a cropped-sleeve male dress shirt, over which the designers have sown a black sash that asymmetrically makes its way down to the bottom of the dress. The bottom half of the ensemble is grey-flecked with bits of white, giving it a marbled texture. It is gently pleated and balloons slightly at the model’s mid-thigh. The outfit is finished off with black stockings and strappy black leather heels. (Look 8, Proenza Schouler).

Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent’s Pre-Fall collection is intensely glamorous, filled with statement making ensembles. This dress and cape hint at Little Red Riding Hood — only a Red Riding Hood wearing a deep cut black dress accented with seductive red roses. Both the sleeves and open chest are covered with black organza that ends at the model’s grey leather gloves. She wears dark stockings and patent platform black heels with ankle straps, as well as a wavy, statement-making hat. (Look 2, Yves Saint Laurent).