Not long ago, designers and fashion labels still called their mid-winter collections the “Cruise Collection”; after all, their habitat was once clearly defined from bow to stern: This fashion was intended to dress the high society that wintered on cruise ships. Thick coats, muffs and lined boots would not be appropriate unless the destination of the trip was Alaska. Traditionally, the ateliers had Americans on the Mediterranean in mind. In general, this discerning clientele was pretty tired of the outfits of the fall/winter season in November, but at the latest in December, and was already demanding new looks for the wardrobe before the summer collection arrived. A pre-season, which was later joined by late summer or early autumn, the Pre-Fall Collection. 
Especially at the beginning of this trend, as a customer you could often only choose between maritime restraint and partly kitschy exoticism, but meanwhile the stylistic range of the designs, now called resorts, is as immense as the destinations where they are worn. Even more: "thanks" to climatic upheavals, Pre-Fall and Resort Collections - loosely referred to as ready-to-wear fashion - offer important year-round pieces that are also really fun on land and without vacation. 
