open season; Ten of the best from the new pre-fall collections will send your spirits- and your closet-soaring.

Byline: Mark Holgate

It's June, it's summer, it's time for something new to wear, so you head to your nearest designer emporium, where you find . . . Balenciaga's twisted-preppy woolen blazer . . . weighty Miu Miu ankle boots in scarlet patent leather . . . and a Louis Vuitton tweed skirt suit that makes you wish the store would crank up the air-conditioning. None of these, unless you were planning a getaway to the outer reaches of Alaska, would ever make it into your vacation suitcase. Yet these pieces, some of the highlights of the pre-fall collections, will be entirely relevant to your closet from here to eternity. Or at the very least until spring of next year, which is, when it comes to fashion, pretty much the same thing.

Pre-fall, for want of a better name, is the latest evolution in fashion's calendar. "Resort, spring, pre-fall, fall," Oscar de la Renta neatly recites the four seasons that make up the year. His pre-fall collection included balloon-sleeved cable-knit sweaters, boyish flannel pants, and tightly belted wool jackets, all of which have been available since late April. "There's nothing worse," he says, "than having a woman walk into a store and say, 'I have seen all of this already.' Four seasons is useful because it means there is always something new to see."

Few haven't fallen for the charms of the resort collections, which grant both instant gratification (cocoon that cotton dress bought in November with a coat) and a long wardrobe life (let it emerge from its wintry chrysalis and bask in the sun come May). In this way, the pre-fall collections, in which many of the pieces can be worn on cooler summer days and in the depths of winter alike, are no different from their resort counterparts. Except there are far fewer designers specifically doing pre-fall; in addition to Oscar de la Renta, there's also Balenciaga, Chloe, Lanvin, Dolce & Gabbana, and Yves Saint Laurent, among others. Pre-fall hasn't caught on-just yet.

It will, of course. It's not just that this season can offer women real value for the money when fashion has never been more expensive: You can stock up now with YSL's softly romantic bohemian dress or Chloe's short embroidered skirt because that initial investment will reap long-term rewards. Or that these clothes, absent big runway shows and ...