In another sign of the times, luxury house Emanuel Ungaro is pricing its pre-fall collection about 15% below last year's.

Emanuel Ungaro, pre-fall 2009.

Individual pieces are still being priced. But that's the plan, according to Mounir Moufarrige, Ungaro's CEO and president.

"The past five years have been a boom and I think prices have gone wild," Mr. Moufarrige says. "I think it becomes too expensive, even if there are people who are buying it." As the pre-fall 2009 looks were being developed, there was an ongoing conversation about how much garments would cost in different fabrics.

"The consumer bought so much, knows so much, and buys at every price level," Mr. Moufarrige added. "You have to define something which is clear, has an edge and is different. We propose and then the customer decides."

"We have to think ahead. Consumers in their purchases are ahead of brands, always," Mr. Moufarrige says. "It takes time to catch up."

For Ungaro's pre-fall 2009 collection, which usually arrives in stores during the summer, designer Esteban Cortazar created a collection featuring both classic and new pieces. Given the current anxious luxury goods climate, Mr. Cortazar said that he aimed for versatility, in an attempt to please some retailers who are looking for novelty and others that prize timelessness.

The collection, which featured tweed skirts, chiffon polka dot blouses, slim skirts and boxy boyfriend blazers included several elegant options for the board room. Tweedy charcoal greys and black wools were punctuated by pops of neon pink, turquoise and purple silks and chiffon. "Especially for pre-fall, it's important for the fabrics to be understood, to be digestable but good quality," the designer says. Cutting a dress in a quality chevron fabric for example, "it's something that will always be appealing to the eye."

The luxury consumer is looking for well-cut clothes that are beautiful at any time, and that do not follow any particular trend or fashion moment, Mr. Cortazar says: "I think she doesn't want to spend luxury prices for basics, she wants to pay luxury prices for something that feels special to her."