Something clicked for me watching the Prada runway progression on Thursday—15 models, 60 looks, the pieces layered and stacked like a Matryoshka doll. As a former buyer, I recognized it immediately. That’s how you build an assortment, and that’s how you get a customer to buy eight pieces instead of two. Right now, that’s the strategy and sensibility behind what’s actually selling in stores and online. (Michael Rider at Celine is working with the same template.) Whatever the headlines say about the economy, the customer is still shopping. I heard it across the board this week. And they are buying pieces that work harder, easily layer, and last longer than a single look.