This Week's Wow: Designers' Pre-Fall Collections Hint at What's to Come

In this weekly feature, InStyle’s Fashion News Director Eric Wilson shares his favorite fashion moment of the week, and explains how it could shape styles to come. Look for it on What’s Right Now every Friday.

The Moment: December, on the mixed-up calendar of fashion presentations, is the month when designers show their work for pre-fall 2015. While it’s far too early for shoppers to be worrying about what clothes to buy when these collections arrive in stores six months from now, it is interesting to note that they do offer hints of the shape of things to come and what things designers are looking at these days for inspiration.

There are those who are ultra specific in their approach, like Michael Kors, whose lively sportswear looks (a micro sequined rugby shirt, or delicious track pants, pictured, above left) were inspired by a stylish trio of Jane Holzer, Winona Ryder, and Taylor Swift, and those who preferred to strike a more general mood. Carolina Herrera, for one, likes the pre-fall season for the ability to inject some whimsy into her prints, such as a dresses featuring a motif of ladybugs (pictured, above middle). They’re lucky, you know.

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Joseph Altuzarra thought of the English hunt, creating a houndstooth print that was lovely in its lightness (pictured, above right). Zac Posen offered a comprehensive array of looks both sexy and covered up, with a looser cut to knitwear and a smart new bias trick on his party dresses (pictured, below left). And Jason Wu took inspiration from the artist Dan Flavin, who created sculptures and installations using colored fluorescent lights. You might wonder how that translates into clothes. Wu is heading a in a decidedly sophisticated direction with suits and a knockout tuxedo in black cashmere, but their closures were made of small silver tubes (pictured, below middle).

Why It’s a Wow: With so many clothes to digest, it’s always amazing when a particular moment stands out, and on Tuesday, that moment happened in the studio of Oscar de la Renta. Peter Copping, the new creative director, was there, along with Alex and Eliza Bolen, the stewards of the legacy of de la Renta, who died in October. Next to them was studio director Laura Kim, who recalled the genesis of this collection, the last one de la Renta had worked on, which the studio completed as a team.

It was August, and the designers were sitting around having a staff lunch, when de la Renta said he was inspired by the colors of his food. Hence, tomato red, paired with shocking pink, made a lively appearance in double-face stretch wool suiting, and evening came in an array of wild brights, a very upbeat and beautiful tribute to the designer (pictured, above right).

Learn More: Keep an eye here for more coverage of the pre-fall collections over the next month, as well as those seen already since Chanel’s Metiers D’Art show in Salzburg.

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