Resort found Carolina Herrera—that epitome of decorum—in an uncommonly fizzy mood. Her Spring collection is now in stores, the one with flowers "taped" (trompe l'oeil, of course) to clothes like botanical slides.

John Galliano originally studied to be a fashion illustrator at Central Saint Martins. He'd even signed a contract for a job in Manhattan. Then the hand of fate turned his head to design. Oh, how different things might have been. For one thing, we'd never have gotten the Dior couture show we saw today

This is the other side of paradise," he said, meaning that the Hotel du Cap defines a degree of extravagance that former fishing village Saint-Tropez doesn't aspire to. But, diamonds aside, quite how the notion of a schism of excess crossed over to the clothes Karl showed wasn't as clear. He claimed he was inspired by Rita Hayworth and Aly Khan, former hot-blooded habitués of the Hotel du Cap,

Resort found Carolina Herrera—that epitome of decorum—in an uncommonly fizzy mood. Her Spring collection is now in stores, the one with flowers "taped" (trompe l'oeil, of course) to clothes like botanical slides.

The Hitchcock blondes have exited the frame. After Fall's trip back to the sixties, Bottega Veneta's Tomas Maier is in a forward-thinking state of mind for Resort. It doesn't get much fresher than a hot pink silk shirtgown cinched with a corset that looks like it could double as a parachute belt, unless, that is, you're talking about an equally weightless, imminently packable shift in multiple layers of color-blocked chiffon.

The story that will inevitably linger about the Fall Balmain show is that its creative director, Christophe Decarnin, failed to show up. The designer is under doctor's orders to rest after being treated for an unconfirmed illness, alternately rumored to be depression or exhaustion.