Hiding Craft Behind a Smooth Facade

Catwalking

Marc Jacobs, autumn/winter 2013, in New York.

NEW YORK As I crouched over a tablet at the airport, watching the models walk the screen, New York Fashion Week ended for me as it had begun virtually.

But this time it was not a blizzard that had grounded the plane, but a decision byMarc Jacobs to delay his show by three days.

I watched a sun rise as a golden bauble at the back of the circular set and then strained to see the models in the slim coats and dresses typical of the designer. The lights came up for another circle of the rotunda set, the better to see the identical quiffs of wig, the fur stoles, some apparently with fake fox heads and to note that those shawls and the underpants as bottom halves looked very Prada.

However, the pajama shirts and slender dresses in shimmering fabrics had just the clean lines and sophisticated sportswear silhouettes that were once the essence of American style. Mr. Jacobs, as ever, gets to the heart of w! hat is contemporary.

In general, the New York shows for autumn 2013 seemed overcomplicated and like an amalgam of current trends.

Those who followed their own paths the intense and impressive craftsmanship from Proenza Schouler or the ongoing fabric research at Calvin Klein offered no game-changing vision of fashion in the 21st century.

The two figures of the Vogue editor Anna Wintour and the coat hanger-in-chief Anna Dello Russo made the statement of the season in their Prada furs worked with flat Japanese flowers. Fancy furs were everywhere.

From Michael Kors came pattern in vivid colors, defying the original purpose of camouflage. Those coats, in both fabric or printed fur, were examples of powerful and streamlined outerwear that accompanied ber-sports looks.

Youve got to be an athlete to manage in this city today, said Mr. Kors, referring to his dash uptown to escape Hurricane Sandy in late October.

The result was typical of the designer: upbeat colors like deep sky blue and burning-sun yellow. Stylish scuba-style dresses for daytime contrasted with evening dress that seemed too athletic: long skirts billowing behind ultrashort skirts at the front. The show came through as dynamic but predictable.

Its emphasizing the idea of softness from leather, said Jack McCollough backstage, showing the work behind the Proenza Schouler collection. That included perforated, printed and woven wools, satin-back crepe bonded to jersey and needle-punched leather sweaters. His partner, Lazaro Hernandez, said with a! smile th! at the design duo drove mad their Italian suppliers.

What did these complex creations look like if you were Liv Tyler, sitting front row? The answer was: pretty simple, as all the craft was hidden behind the facade of tailored coats and jackets, cut in rounded shapes. The textures showed up as tweed-look fabrics, made from the perforated leather. Full marks to the duo for research and technique although sometimes it was at the expense of lightness and ease.

A sleek austerity but with intense fabric research has always been the focus of Francisco Costas work at Calvin Klein. The designer called his silhouettes art meets urban culture, which translated as taut-waisted coats and dresses, inserted with leather and cinched with metallic buckles. The hardware was in contrast to the liquid-looking leather the two elements balanced by feminine bandeau tops and masculine drop-crotch pants.

The silhouette was graphic and refined, the work exceptional, offering lacework inside leather pleats and all this set off by stark silhouettes and straight hair.

But sometimes simple ideas are the best. A faint plaid pattern or the same idea worked in perforated holes were some of the few pieces that seemed to fit Mr. Costas backstage promise of sexuality charged with urban femininity. Expect to see the 21st-century plaid on Jessica Chastain, sitting front row in a slim bordeaux dress.

In a jungle of influences that have obscured any clear American look, Ralph Lauren has to be applauded for the absolute certainty of his vision.

Under chandeliers decorated with stag antlers and with the entire Lauren family in their ritual positions walked a naval parade: models wearing jaunty berets with narrowed-down sailor pants, smart duffel jackets and white shirts with full sleeves that had just the Lauren mix of fashion pace and grace.

But to where were they sailing? To Dr. Zhivagos Russia, where lush velvets in purple, teal and olive introduced a different and more romantic world of fur hats and Persian carpetbags.

I thought of it like a movie, said Mr. Lauren, who appeared in a cream cabled sweater tough enough for the Russian steppes.

The show was essential Ralph with its sporty daywear in richly textured fabrics. The evenings romantic elegance was worthy of a Tolstoy heroine.