Isn't It Ricci? French Fashion House's New Designer Delights With Demure 'Pre-Fall' Collection Among Pixies

On the morning of Tues., Jan. 15, in a clean, white loft space in far West Chelsea, a smattering of black-clad, Treo-wielding fashion editors, including Glamour’s Cindi Leive, Teen Vogue’s Amy Astley and Harper’s Bazaar’s Glenda Bailey, gathered to view the “pre-fall” collection of French fashion house Nina Ricci, which invitees had been informed would take place “in the presence” of Olivier Theyskens, barely 31, the brand’s much-loved designer since fall 2006. (And the man behind such fashion moments as Reese Witherspoon in show-stopping yellow at the 2007 Golden Globes, shortly after her husband, Ryan Phillippe, reportedly took up with blond Australian actress Abbie Cornish. Also Madonna in that olive-green Gothic gown at the 1999 Oscars, but no need to dwell on that.)

Pixie-ish Elle fashion editor Kate Lanphear arrived in her trademark black and gray, set off by a shock of short platinum-blond hair. Her tall, studded, very rocker-chic boots were by Balmain, she said. (“A little bit of sparkle. All girls are magpies.”).

“I’m a huge fan of Olivier; he’s like fashion’s ultimate, ultimate romantic,” she said. “And just everything that he sends down the runway embodies some sort of nostalgic romantic dream. It’s always really dreamy and always really beautiful. It’s a great way to start the day.”

Ms. Lanphear said that the newish addition of “pre-fall” collections to the year’s already mobbed fashion calendar “has become more and more important. It’s just for buyers to refresh the stores; it’s a little injection before the bigger collections. And it’s surprising because sometimes buyers spend more on the pre-collections than they do on the normal spring or fall seasons.”

Like most others in the room, Ms. Lanphear was bracing herself for the real Fashion Week, which looms ahead on Feb. 1. At which point her schedule would morph into “something from 9 a.m. to 9 or 10 at night, on the hour … and we try to fit presentations in on the half-hour … and it’s four weeks!” But not four in New York, mind you! “New York, London, Milan, Paris.” (How do these people look so … fresh?)

Mr. Theyskens’ presentation was set to vaguely massage-parlor music. The models wore delicate dresses, chunky sweaters and antique-looking jewelry, all in muted colors, their curled hairdos set off by demure pearls.

Afterward, the designer, whose long black hair and facial scruff would make him at home in a period movie, perhaps one involving sword fights, professed modesty. “The moment of the show, things go so quickly,” he said. “You do not know how to judge the moment.” For the “pre-fall,” he explained, “you focus much about the clothing. When you have beautiful little clothes in hand, you are happy. Because it’s the early delivery system, and you want to be sure you have nice little looks in the shops.” Versus the actual fall collection, he added, when “you need to say something. It’s different.”

Ms. Bailey, clad in a large gray fur, then rushed up to greet Mr. Theyskens with a kiss, saying the collection had made her “very, very happy.”