As the spring/ summer collections make an exit, you expect a calm to descend on the world of fashion. But those who are used to two fashion seasons a year take heed: pre-fall collections are keeping the wheels of fashion spinning.

Along with the cruise collections of December, pre-fall is the industry's in-between season, taking place after spring/summer collections are phased out in June and before the fall/winter collections hit stores in late August.

Last January, New York magazine hailed pre-fall as 'the new season, which reduces the brutal wait for fashion changeovers'. It said that the season, 'once solely seen by fashion buyers and editors in showrooms, is now targeting consumers'.

Last February, New York fashion trade journal Women's Wear Daily called pre-fall 'a fashion force, with new designers joining the fray every season'.

The season has become known for commercial, wearable clothes.

Style.com, the online home of American Vogue, describes the pre-fall offerings of cutting-edge labels like Balenciaga and Prada as 'a return to wardrobe basics'.

And even if you are not intending to replenish your wardrobe four times a year, pre-fall is an indicator of what will be hot in the fall/winter fashion season. So get a head start on the trends everyone will be wearing in a few months' time.

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This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.