Oscar de la Renta: A preview of Oscar de la Renta's resort collection turned into a nostalgic recap when his friend and former model-turned-jewelry designer Kirat Bhinder Young joined the conversation. They dished charming anecdotes, mostly from the late '70s and early '80s, ranging from a trip to Dubai with belly-dancing sheiks to de la Renta's work with Verushka and Young's with Yves Saint Laurent.

As for the collection at hand, de la Renta preferred to let the clothes speak for themselves. A beautiful lineup of broad appeal - within de la Renta's specific, highly polished vocabulary - came grouped in six vignettes spanning day, evening and cocktail grandeur. Inventive black-and-white flocked tweeds progressed to metallic moire and large-scale floral embroideries done in silver thread. Classic ladylike silhouettes, such as neat suiting, were mixed with shorter hemlines, cropped tops and rompers for a youthful verve.

Much of the collection had a graphic focus of navy, ivory and black softened with ultrafeminine treatments including lace, beadwork and appliques.

Fendi: Karl Lagerfeld played with contrasting colors for his Fendi resort, revisiting a few elements from past collections. The fresh orchids that embellished some of the fur pieces on his fall runway were worked here as large deconstructed patterns on silk pants, cotton tops, patchwork leather biker jackets and a silk maxi dress trimmed with colorful lycra.

Lagerfeld also brought back a graffitilike print from 1988, using it for a relaxed silk and mesh top with matching jogging pants. For other looks, Lagerfeld looked to pop art with bright and graphic pieces, notably a pair of tangerine-hued culottes with matching top in white polyurethane polka dots.

As for the bags, accessories creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi featured a new, larger take on the iconic Baguette, designed with an adjustable strap and a high-tech closure in the shape of the house's "FF" logo. There was also a mini Peekaboo style in baby blue crocodile with colorful matte metallic details, and a white version of the By the Way, cheekily decorated with a black crocodile tail.

Alexander Wang: Dry-clean only. Hand-wash only. Alexander Wang throws caution labels to the wind when it comes to laundry - everything goes in the washing machine, often leading to wardrobe evolutions.

"Sometimes things become completely distorted and bleached out and some of them become my favorite pieces," says Wang, while presenting his resort collection, in which the concept of laundry mishaps was deployed into tie-dyed patterns - some pretty, some fiercely graphic. While an oversize PVC raincoat hand tie-dyed in inky blue was an example of the lineup's softer side, when styled over a bar-code printed T-shirt dress and knee-high cobalt-blue suede desert boots, the look made a strong case for utilitarian streetwear. It resonated throughout with army pants, workwear jackets and overalls with safety-belt details.

Etro: Working a cool and sporty attitude for resort, Etro's creative director Veronica Etro says she explored an "urban and metropolitan way". A bold color palette and the house's iconic florals and paisleys were prominent in the youthful daywear collection - even down to the fun printed sandals and sneakers. A yellow-and-black intarsia mink and goat fur jacket was paired with silk cadi pants in a pretty floral pattern, while a yellow boiled wool peacoat came over a flowing paisley silk top and boxy lamb-leather shorts. The paisley pattern was combined with a black-and-white micro-geometric motif on a few of the looks, including a lightweight wool crepe pleated dress and a crepe de chine chiffon T-shirt with matching pants.

(China Daily 06/29/2014 page7)