Some call it resort and some call it cruise. Whatever term you use, it applies to the collections that are available the longest. The collections that hence will exert a creeping influence on many other more accessible collections. The collections we have just seen, though increasingly some labels, like Calvin Klein, don't want their clothes revealed until they hit the stores and can be bought.
Sometimes, when the shows were held in far-off places -- Louis Vuitton in Japan, Christian Dior in California -- we saw them via computer; other times, when they were presented in New York, we saw them in person. Either way, here's what we have to report. Though designers like Narciso Rodriguez chose to concentrate on classics, such as full-skirted technical cotton modernist tea dresses, wide-legged trousers and jersey draped just so at the side, a few definitive trends emerged. This is what's going to be in store for your future. Literally.
• Stripes -- We live in a world of increasing oppositions: between political parties, weather patterns, interest groups, income distribution. Between that general conversation and the fact that the term cruise tends to get designers thinking water, which leads to mariniere, which equals stripes, is it really any surprise that a number of designers (OK, almost all of them) were thinking in big contrasting bands for resort? At least they left the standard blue and white, and black and white, behind and opted for more interesting, vibrant shades. There were candy striper gowns at Carolina Herrera; '70s verticals at Diane von Furstenberg; tennis club preppy pastels at Thom Browne; architectural renderings at Louis Vuitton. You get the idea. Wherever you look, the lines will have been drawn.
• Denim -- Designer denim is back and more elaborate than ever. We're way past the label on the back pocket, past faded and ripped -- so much so that denim has become a fabric on par with silk and cotton. It can be elaborately beaded, patchworked and tailored; ruched and gathered and bias cut. It can be for day and evening and accessories; the office and the weekend. Consider it the trickle-up effect of the streetwear revolution, or the end of the distinction between high and low. Also a good material no matter what the temperature. "Like what Annette would wear," said Fernando Garcia at Oscar de la Renta, pointing at some wide white square-cut jeans with a multicolored tweed jacket and referring to the famously elegant society icon de la Renta. "But for now."
• Tropics -- How and why designers brain-melded on this particular trend at this particular moment is not exactly a mystery. Sometimes you really don't need to overthink the whys of fashion. One of the names for this collection is resort, after all. That's because the whole shebang began as a small group of between-big-seasons clothes to wear when you went on vacations to ... resorts. (How the wee bairn has grown.) Resorts are often found in the Caribbean. Also found in the Caribbean are parrots. And palm trees. Exotic blooms. Birds. Here is what you can wear to blend in to that scenery. Or if you are simply feeling nostalgic about time spent among said scenery and want a brief trip down memory lane. Escapism in a closet. Couldn't we all use some of that?
• Tartan -- Pastels and plaid go together like ... well, shirts and pants. Or summer and vacation. Or picnics and pockets. Well, maybe not that last one. But this is not ye olde red and green tartan of Christmas in the lodge and icicles in the windows; this is tartan reimagined. Tartan reborn. Tartan in cotton-candy pink and olive green with the edges taken off. Tartan with an office-appropriate edge. Victoria Beckham made a slouchy non-suit, and Fendi gave it an urban line, but either way the effect is besuited and rebooted. Say that 10 times really fast.
High Profile on 07/02/2017