The easy sophisticate

Derek Lam Pre-Fall 2012, dead chic.

The gift and the curse

Like every other person on the planet, I'm obsessed with Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci.  The problem with the label under Tisci's game-changing direction, though, is that everyone so flips over those particular motifs and statement pieces - the Rottweiler T (f/w11), the gorgeous iris & black panther prints (f/w11, above), the bird of paradise everything (s/s12) - that they become almost cliché by the time the collection lands in stores.

It's an over-saturation: the initial runway show coverage; the lucky, well-photographed fashionistas wearing the collection almost immediately off the models' backs; the lavish editorials; the fabulous, star-studded ad campaigns.  The pieces become so recognizable, so this-season-Givenchy, so overly, overtly of the moment that it feels gauche - cheesy, even - to wear them by the time they hit stores; it feels like logomania.

But then there are the pieces that just look like distinctive perfection.  Recognizably Givenchy, yes, to the well-trained eye--but subtle, well-cut, a new idea.  There were some true stunners in Tisci's pre-fall collection: I see it in the lines and uber-luxe colorblocking on the coat in the top photo; in the cut of the skirt and the gorgeous juxtaposition of gorgeous prints in the photo below; the boot in both shots.

It's not just trends Mssr. Tisci is dealing in, but also focused thinking.

Proenza Pre-Fall

A standout collection, opened and closed, as it were, by my girl Julia N.

Window shopping

If I were a woman and had to think carefully about the designer items upon which to bestow my limited fashionable income (the horror!), I'd likely be investing in things like this sleek, smart, statement pant from Riccardo Tisci's homerun pre-fall collection for Givenchy.  It's surely at least $1,000, but it feels both new and basic.

And everyone is just dying for the boot, of course.  Model Caroline Trentini.