Metamorphosis

Resort has shed any semblance of being a forgotten, in between season participated in by those few who could afford the cost of presentations or full runway shows. It now stretches more than four weeks. Chanel has spent the past few years turning their Resort show into fantasy trips for those invited. Some bring their wares across the Atlantic from London and Paris and Milan to present their collections multiple times to groups of editors and buyers and tastemakers. While others, mainly younger lines, have found new and inventive ways to present their art to the masses.



Prabal Gurung Resort 2012 Film Featuring Rye Rye

And with all of that expansion, the history that led to the naming of the season has begun to experience its last life breaths. Many designers have taken to calling the season Pre-Spring, freeing them of any of the season’s past associations and opening the floodgates to inspiration from all corners.

Yet pieces from that past still hang in the air.

At Chanel

At Elie Tahari

At Alice & Olivia

At Christian Dior

At BCBG Max Azria

But for the most part, Resort has transformed into a season more like Pre-Fall, a combination of what was there before and what is to come. From the Fall/Winter season, two trends continued to exhibit a particularly strong hold.

Colorblocking has lasted longer as a trend than any I can think of in recent memory. And throughout the Resort collections, there was no sign of its domination abating.

At DKNY

At Rachel Roy

At Gucci

At Pedro Lourenço

At Stella McCartney

The bright reds that added a pop to the Fall/Winter season in order to act against the dreariness of the cold winter months continued to litter the collections.

At Gucci

At Elie Tahari

At Preen

At Yigal Azrouël

At Ohne Titel

And again, like Pre-Fall, there was a return to the staples that return simply because of the change of seasons. For this Resort season, that role was played by stripes of the maritime variety.

At Organic by John Patrick

At The Row

At Moschino Cheap And Chic

At Philosophy

At Rachel Roy

But mostly there seemed a move towards the overtly feminine. Lace adorned everything from sleeves to entire dresses often without the usual underpinnings.

At Rachel Comey

At Peter Som

At Jason Wu

At Jonathan Saunders

At Erdem

At Prada

Flirty polka dots adorned sweaters and skirts and dresses of all sorts.

At Fendi

At Marc by Marc Jacobs

At Jill Stuart

At Oscar de la Renta

The color story seemed to be one of sherberts. Of sweetness and lightness and joy.

At Michael Kors

At Prabal Gurung

At Roksanda Ilincic

At A.L.C.

At Peter Jensen

At Burberry Prorsum

It's not a surprising reaction to the continued uncertainty that seems to cast its shadow over everything at the moment. And one that I expect we'll see in the coming Spring/Summer 2012 shows.


Photos via