It was a dark and stormy night ... no, actually, it was just sort of uncharacteristically gray at this year's July 24 Nordstrom's coming-season preview, but with cool- and cold-weather looks for fall from designers all over the globe, things got wonderfully moody and shadow-darkened once the runway show began. No matter how much we relish the sun, Seattleites are just drawn to those cozy layers and rich textures of autumn.

What a boon, then, that 2014 holds not just saturated earth tones, but plenty of bright claret and deep blue and pastels (yeah, pastels), too. Check the slide show to get the scoop on our backstage chats with Nordstrom and Vogue experts, and to see shooter Andrew J.S.'s camera-pit views.

We chatted with Nordstrom's director of creative projects—and popin guru—Olivia Kim (shown here) as well as visiting Vogueeditor Cynthia Cook Smith, and Nordstrom fashion director Gregg Andrews about key looks and trends before the show began. Keep clicking for their sartorial wisdom.

Image: Andrew Swanson