Adventures in Sparkles and Ruffles: Wrapped Up: Pre-Fall 2012

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Wrapped Up: Pre-Fall 2012

I knew from the first pre-Fall show that the coats were going to be a problem. Not a life-threatening or earth-shattering one. Just an issue of large numbers and limited space.

During the Fall/Winter seasons, I always seem to miss the coats. Glance over them on the way to trends in hemlines and colors and cuts and shapes. Though the design of coats can be affected by the changing winds of the season, the need for them to perform their primary function is paramount. In the culture of the fashion world where popularity rises and falls so quickly, a coat is one of the few years-long investment pieces left. In a year, you may rid your closet of that pair of brightly colored denim but rarely will your coat meet the same fate.

In those in between seasons, the Resorts and the pre-Falls, the way that I digest the clothes being offered to me shifts. I often take them in one gluttonous go. In the end, I come out with more bookmarks of things that I just love. That have nothing to add to the discussion of what’s in and what’s out, what’s fresh and what’s stale. And so my pre-Fall 2012 folder found itself stuffed to the brim with coats of all sorts.

Some styles of coats, the peacoats and the duffle coats and the trenches, never fade from view. Hundreds of years old, they come with histories that often trace back to a military origin. They are the coats that most people return to time and time again. Because they never fall out of style. Of course, some designers take those classic shapes and play with them, twist them just enough to give you the hint of something new.

At No. 21

At Dsquared²

At Erdem

At Jason Wu

Some use patterns to add an element of interest.

At Erdem

At Band of Outsiders

At Jason Wu

At Doo.Ri

At Yigal Azrouël

While others play with the shapes, blowing them up and exaggerating elements, to offer coats that would overwhelm all but the right person.

At No. 21