OUR NEED FOR NEWNESS: RESORT AS THE 3RD SEASON

fashion week 101: first come Spring collections during the beginning of Fall (september, trickling into october in paris). then come Fall collections during the beginning of Spring (february-march-ish). then later in the beginning of summer (june) appears Menswear Spring for the next year. couture shows are seemingly falling few and far in between during January (Givenchy isn't even showing on a runway this season, so we have chanel, dior, armani prive, gaultier to look forward to at least). and last but not least we have RESORT (aka "cruise", "holiday", "pre-spring", "pre-summer", "pre-fall", "pre-collection") showing sometime in January, to be released the upcoming late summer/early fall... ?

i'm confused too. thank goodness for this delightful little article/Q&A that NY Mag did, titled,"Resort Report 2011: Fashion Experts Answer Ten Big Questions, Like, "Why Does This Season Exist?".

i'll do a little paraphrasing of a few of the questions to save you some time. i know you may be busy shopping for fur coats right now. it is, after all, summer.

1. 'Resort' and its synonyms (in parentheses above) - what should we call it? 'Resort' and/or 'Cruise' can kind of sound elitist and paints a picture of shiny white yachts and beautiful, tanned people in nautical stripes. but, it's not always like that. most of those collections actually feature outerwear, pants, and dark colors..and bathing suits too.

2. Mo' collections, mo' money? and is it worth it? absolutely. according to CFDA executive director Steven Kolb, the collection is just as important and successful as Spring, has a longer shelf life (6 months), and doesn't get marked down in prices as quickly as the other two seasons.

3. Where/when did this collection come from? since the World War I & II years. in our day, Karl Lagerfeld has taken this in-between season into his own hands and threw decadent parties all over the world for the sake of showing. newcomer Jason Wu is also a huge fan, saying that he and his company has expanded because of this collection.

4. why are most Resort shows shown in the US? because we americans LOVE to shop. and we get bored easily. and our climates vary a lot. word.

5. resort=time to experiment? yeah. since it's still a mystery season, designers have free range to play with fabrics, colors, etc. and not get slapped on the hand for not being in uniform with the rest of the flock of designers.

6., 7. & 8. do editors favor this collection? if i was an editor, it would drive me MAD. juggling and separating three different seasons at a time, paired with a three-month lead requires a person with major organization and memorization skillz. it may be difficult to keep up with all the shows and presentations happening all over town. and, it can become daunting and may result in them becoming BORED. though overall, it's new product to place in editorials.

9. Resort 2010 highlights? the '60s at chanel, MJ, and balenciaga; clean lines and neutrals at celine; classic tailoring at stella mccartney ; shrunken straw boater hats at jason wu, marc jacobs, and oscar de la renta. see slideshow.

10. 'Resort' living up to Spring and Fall stature? some say it already is, but some say it probably won't ever call for its own Fashion Week.

now, here's my personal point of view. i don't care what they call 'resort'. i don't care when fall or spring comes in. what matters is that whatever i am shopping for right at that moment is there for my taking. it's normal to see outerwear in the 'new arrivals' section during summer, and to see bathing suits on sale already before beach season even begins.

said karl lagerfeld in an interview with style.com, "the future of fashion is six months." it makes sense for designers, always having to come up with Fall even before they show the Spring collection they JUST finished for fashion week. always on their toes.

our need for newness is definitely a major factor to the designers and is huge pressure to pump out newer, better, bigger things - things we don't know we need until we see them. it's like a catch 22. we need fashion just as fashion needs the consumer. it's a love/love relationship, and will always be, no matter what you call it.