The most expensive piece in the new capsule costs 79.95 euros. The cheapest 39.95. Those are the prices at which a collection either passes the test or does not - and the test is simple: how many months the piece stays wearable once you put the sandals away.

Zara has released its second collaboration with Leandra Medine, the blogger and stylist who founded Man Repeller, and in it four midi skirts stand out from the rest. Not because of the cut, but because all four work with sandals now and with boots in two months' time.

The four pieces, with prices exactly as they appear on the label

Cream midi with fringing and sequins, 59.95 euros - in the collection it is worn with a cobalt blue jumper and a velour coat. Floral wrap skirt with a mid rise, in embroidered silk fabric with a contrasting hem, 39.95. Black midi with a barrel cut, tapered at the bottom so it takes on a soft balloon shape, available in black only, 59.95. And light grey with leaf-shaped appliques and beads in the same tone, 79.95 - the priciest of the four.

Why this is more interesting than another list of pieces

Fashion rarely sells a solution. It sells a season, and a season by definition ends. Here there is something else: midi is the one length that does not force a choice between summer and autumn. With sandals it is summer, with boots it is autumn, and the fabric is what carries it through September.

This is also the most common buying mistake in a country like ours, where summer lasts a long time and winter arrives with no warning. You buy for August, wear it for three weeks, and it hangs there the rest of the year. A piece that works across two seasons is not expensive - the one that works in a single season is.

Do you actually need a new skirt, or just a new way of combining what you already own? That is a question no collection will answer honestly.