Olivier Theyskens knows how to make a statement, even if it's a quiet one. That's exactly what he did at his pre-fall show for Nina Ricci, musing on, he said, "a very cute girl in an urban situation." So just what would such a girl wear? Something "dreamy," like this dress that blends knit alpaca into woven wool and nylon.

Olivier Theyskens and John Galliano are the latest designers to join the pre-fall ranks. Chez Nina Ricci, Theyskens is drawing on the Seventies for an utterly chic, melancholic collection in a Botticelli-esque palette. As for Galliano, his Paris-meets-Russia lineup is inspired, he notes, by the idea of a troupe of Folies Pigalle dancers taking the Trans-Siberian Express. First stop: draped cocktail dresses dusted with folkloric flourishes, followed by a rich range of coats in bouclé wool, jacquard and fur.