Never-Ending Summer

"THE ULTIMATE THING for most of us would be to have an endless summer; the warm weather and waves," narrated Bruce Brown in his famous 1966 documentary about surfing, "The Endless Summer." In harmony with the film's mellow, sliding electric-guitar soundtrack by the Sandals, he continued: "The only way to do this is by traveling around the world; following the summer season as it moves around the world." This is just what the surfers Mr. Brown followed did, searching not only for the perfect swell, but for a way to prolong the sweetest of seasons.


Designers seem as unwilling to let go of the bright and buoyant charms of summer as those '60s surfers were—for fall they've created clothes that feel as carefree and celebratory as a day at the beach. Peter Pilotto digitally remastered iris flowers to look like white-water waves on skirts, while Alexander McQueen designer Sarah Burton gathered bouquets of 3-D silk jacquard blooms for the paganistic pieces in her autumn collection—said to be inspired by the soft bed of a forest floor. London star Mary Katrantzou traveled to the manicured "courtyard of an Italian villa," for her hedge privet-printed long skirt and top. And Manhattan designer Rachel Comey's cloud-covered shift for fall captures the magic pink of a July sky at sunset, after outdoor showers have been taken and just before the evening crickets start to sing.

"We've seen an about-face in designers' approaches to fall collections," said Neiman Marcus Fashion Director Ken Downing. "Deliveries are in warm-weather months and it's getting colder later in the season—it's good business to pay attention to this." He recalled the steamy temperatures in Paris during fashion week last September, which left American editors with trunks full of furs—yet nothing to wear. "Many women don't have time to think about what they'll be wearing in two months," he said. "They want something new and they want to wear it now."

There are also fashion's emerging markets to consider: Shoppers in parts of Asia, the Middle East and Brazil—where seasons are less defined—are looking for more transitional clothing. "These women want to be part of fashion," said Mr. Downing. "It's something we talk about in the market all the time." For Valentino's Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, who sent a series of seemingly weightless nude gowns embroidered with wildflowers down the fall runway, their approach is more emotional, but no less savvy. "We are firmly convinced that nowadays women purchase due to a specific desire, rather than a seasonal need," the designers said via email. If an endless summer is what we all desire, perhaps that's what we'll get.

—Alexa Brazilian