TREND I-SPY

At this point, with over a decade on the job behind him, it's clear that Nicolas Ghesquière's design heart lies at the intersection of Fashion (Capital F) and active sport. His Pre-Fall 10 Collection for Balenciaga included many of the signature design devices we've seen in seasons past; technical fabrics, molded volume, leggings, sweats, skinny pants and mini wrap skirts. Most notable perhaps was the use of bold color and the sort of slightly tacky foliage prints usually associated with off-duty surfer dudes. What is somehow comforting is that delve back into the designer's widely-ranging repertoire of the past ten years and the seeds of everything shown here can be found in a previous collection. Balenciaga Pre-Fall 2010

Architectural minimalism, body-conscious bell shapes, innerwear-as-outwear, tartan and plaid, sparkle and shine: All recently popular trends, all seen first on the runway of Balenciaga. Certain designers are known for having a signature style, while others seem to spearhead whatever is the most important trend of the season. In the case of Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga, he is more often than not ahead of the curve. I found some great examples when I scoured through Style.com. Francisco Costa was lauded in S2009 for his architecturally-biased collection for Calvin Klein. Three years before, a very similar dress appeared in the S2006 Balenciaga show. The innerwear-on-the-outside trend was the overwhelming success of the S2010 Collections. Balenciaga showed a version with an exposed bra back in Spring 2006! For Pre-Fall 10 Vera Wang twinned a sparkling shift with a fine knit cardigan resembling a dress with a similar feel from Balenciaga's Spring 06 show. Balenciaga's collect...