With the barometer below freezing, it may be too early for most of us to think about our spring wardrobe, let alone next fall’s. But designers are two steps ahead of the general public, and are currently showing their fall 2007 collections at Fashion Week in New York City.

Yale University Press has recently published two books on fashion – Balenciaga and His Legacy (by Myra Walker) and AngloMania (by Andrew Bolton) – and will release Ralph Rucci (by Valerie Steele, Patricia Mears and Clare Sauro) later this month.

The Rucci book is the first to explore in depth the American designer’s life and work, and accompanies an exhibition at the Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, which is on display through April 14.