Top five pre-fall 2022 women's trends

Pre-Fall has become one of the most essential selling seasons, with product sitting on the sales floor for up to six months (usually from June to December). Designers often take the opportunity to offer more commercial looks than in the runway seasons. Steff Yotka, writing in Vogue commented "Even in the best of times, pre-fall has traditionally been a stopgap season, one that’s more about selling than new ideas". Yotka also remarked that fewer designers than usual even presented a pre-fall 22 collection.

All of which could've boded ill for Pre-Fall 2022, but on the contrary, the 100 or so designers that did participate, did so with great enthusiasm, showed collections full of fresh designs, colors and prints.

Here are the top five trends we spotted this season

Highland fling

Tartan and plaid are often considered to be rather traditional fabrics, but there is quite another side to the story. In the late '70s Vivienne Westwood made this material a cornerstone of her punk aesthetic. Nowadays tartan and plaid looks can go either way.

For pre-fall 2022 Balmain, Chanel Metiers dArt, Veronica Beard and Roberto Cavalli used plaid and tartan fabrics. Arguably the most directional looks were seen at Dior and R13.

Black is the new black

Designers Proenza Schouler, Versace, Balenciaga, Brandon Maxwell, Et Ochs and Givenchy brought sexy back with chic looks in head-to-toe black.

The silhouette was generally slim and often included cut outs or other feminine details such as feathers and faux fur trims.

Double denim

After two years of wearing sweatpants, roomy denim makes a nice alternative.

Big shapes were seen at Diesel, Balenciaga, R13, MM^ Maison Margiela and even Chanel. Designers often doubled up with matching top and bottom pieces.

She's like a rainbow

Inspired by the cheerfulness of the rainbow and counter to the all-black trend, designers such as Oscar De La Renta, Ganni, and Versace and Christopher John Rogers showed colorful stripes and ombrés.

Get shorty

It used to be said that the shorter the skirt, the better the stock market. If that were the case, this year will see a bullish economy, as designers such as Givenchy, Max Mara, Gucci, Ulla Johnson and Etro presented mini skirts and shorts often shown as part of a suit.