Introducing the Balenciaga scrunchie. And why not? This end-of-year collection is an apposite juncture at which to appreciate the workings of Demna Gvasalia’s sense of humor. At a preview in Paris last June, it was laid out for inspection in trays as this Resort lookbook was being shot. At times like this, when we’d all cry unless we laughed, Balenciaga’s absurdist accessories are perfectly timed. The jokes gleefully spark up the otherwise straight-faced continuity of the clothes, in which Gvasalia and his team have gone back to build on some of the foundations he’s laid down since placing an outsize Balenciaga logo on a stole in the first collection for Pre-Fall 2016. In effect, it was a preview of one of the things Gvasalia has pursued intently: his interest in logos and how they can be manipulated, retrieved from a brand-licensing past that was once regarded as beyond the pale of sophisticated taste, and then doused in the gasoline of ridiculous desirability again.

To present his Resort collection today, Michael Kors gathered editors at the Whitney Museum, with a view of the Hudson River and New Jersey in the distance. With their Resort 2018 collection, Kors is building a new house and has islands on the brain. What to expect is terrific, zippy collection, full of sarongs, strappy maillots, halter dresses, and one sleek embroidered djellaba that, thanks to Kors’s innate sense of polish, will likely see just as much action in the big city as in Bora Bora or the car-less Hydra, two islands he said he’s visited recently. Kors’s tropical prints are more versatile than the next guys’ primarily because of their palette: He used navy, brown, black, and white, with bright lemon yellow options for the extroverts in his audience. By pairing them with solids or boyish pajama stripes, he tempered their typical exuberance further. Other pieces that qualified for what he described as the “super easy, super glamorous point of the whole collection” included a jumpsuit with wide, asymmetric leg openings that read like a breezy dress, and a floral-print, ankle-length halter dress.

This is the first Givenchy collection under Clare Waight Keller's guidance, expect triptych lineup of monochromatic looks came entirely from the women’s (and men’s) studios. In addition to that, the now-familiar Infinity and Horizon bags were given myriad makeovers, and Sway, a new, well-developed hybrid style, could easily become a mainstay Within the dark interior of the Palestra del Duce, the familiar Neo-Gothic influence appeared as a knockout dress assembled from a medley of lace; while the snarling Rottweiler sweatshirt made only a cameo this time, the house’s best friend had been cropped and tamed underneath an integrated silk blouse.

Fendi is all about extreme, almost decadent luxury tinged with irreverence and joie de vivre, both of which infused a Resort lineup that revolved around three themes. The collection features masculine elements jolted with fluorescent colors; flashes of Schiaparelli pink and mimosa yellow gave an energetic vibe to a sleek macro-checked city coat worn with skinny pants, and to a short, boxy jacket paired with an ankle-length pleated skirt. Dreamy, softly sculptural dresses dominated the Blossoming Garden section. Cascades of bright green silk crepe were gathered at the shoulders with black ribbons on a long trapeze dress. It looked eccentric and modern, with an unrestrained feel of movement. Cinched at the waist and with full skirts, a series of hyper-feminine dresses boasted abundant frills sprouting from their surfaces as if they’d been raised in a hothouse tended by a mad gardener.