Spring reign

People with a reasonably serious view of fashion often ask: Where are the new ideas? And more often than not, this question is directed at New York designers, who tend to copy or dress up generic styles.

But until there are real technical advances in fashion - new materials, alternatives to a sewing machine - there won't be new ideas.

For many people, it seems enough that designers are sincere and straightforward, that they tackle the problems that relate to their own aesthetic (say, prints or knitwear), and have some ability to plant the hook of desire.

Top in that class for spring 2014 at New York Fashion Week were Joseph Altuzarra and Louise Goldin. Several times in the past few years, Altuzarra has moved away from dressy, hard-edge tailoring and embraced soft clothes with a sportswear feel.

He is not afraid of using something as ordinary as a skirt and a shirt, and has enough curiosity to make them interesting, taking inspiration from the everyday clothing of Japanese farmers and fishermen. Turning the practical into high fashion has been a tactic since Coco Chanel, so it's hardly new. But Altuzarra refreshes it with superlight fabrics.

Alexander Wang also had an excellent show. He told a writer he missed the days when fashion wasn't so serious, but Wang always seems at his most enjoyable when he is playful.

What worked so well in this collection were the girlish shapes, like pleated miniskirts, crisp cotton tunics and athletic shorts, done minimally in shirting fabrics and classic grey uniform fabric. The show could have been interpreted as an extended riff on a uniform, but the thinking was more sophisticated than that. And everything looked polished, in spite of Wang's plea for play.

Ralph Lauren: kinky? It's a passing thought, but only a passing thought, that the king of bourgeois taste was flirting on the last day of Fashion Week last Thursday with a sexy schoolgirl look. Those black knee-highs, Mary Jane shoes and a black leather jumper with a matron's necktie?

But, no. Lauren steered firmly away from this thought, though toward what was unclear. Black-and-white striped cricket jackets led to floral prints on patent leather that were less mod than wallpapery. Then Lauren dived headlong (and belatedly) into the neon colour trend. You don't want to see the full length of model Karlie Kloss advancing towards you in royal blue party silk. Look away, as Melissa McCarthy famously said in Bridesmaids.

Focus instead on the brisk proportions and shorter hemlines of slightly flared skirts with trim double-breasted jackets: Lauren absolutely gets this key shift for spring.

"Layers and layers and layers," Francisco Costa said after his energetic Calvin Klein show. "It's Basquiat, Picasso and Madonna: all the things that influenced me when I first came to New York, layered together."

What worked so well with this collection was that the layers were not obvious. The many shift dresses were raw and beautiful and - though in materials such as woven leather and snakeskin - plainly light and summery.

Phillip Lim's collection was a lesson in geophysics, with prints and colours evoking the planet's surface, and possibly its core. Anyway, there were many novel textures: cracked metallic suede in a lapis hue, wood-grain jacquards, tan and black splattered denim. But the shapes, including sleeveless blazers and polo shirts with wide trousers, seemed familiar the world over.

Give Tory Burch the leisure classes in any modern age, and she will find the right mix of glamour and nonchalance for her customer. For spring, she mined the late '60s French Riviera and came up with a fresh collection of flower-embroidered shifts and printed jeans, lattice-cut white leather and some sweet dresses in linen burlap or canvas lightly finished with stones.

Thom Browne is also a name that can't be ignored. His collection is a perfect case in point. In a room padded out to resemble a coffin or a cell, he kept his audience waiting while tinkling chimes played. A bare yellow bulb provided additional cheer. Personally, I was glad to have a padded wall to rest my head against because it was a long wait for Browne's models, about 50 minutes.

Finally the parade appeared, led by nurse-attendants in white hourglass uniforms, snoods and hard red mouths and dark glasses that suggested they were used to giving ladies their pills.

Browne did two noteworthy things. First, he created these fantastic compositions of colour and texture; they can be refined over time. Second, every detail of his new collection - the curves and bumps, the erotic eruptions of fabrics, the animated pearls and the crazy hair - reflected an understanding of women. And it was layered with enthusiasm, as well as compassion.

American fashion's powerhouse Marc Jacobs puts a lot of thought into the production of his shows and gives the audience only a quick look at the clothes with a fast pace, dim lights and a complicated runway design. It's more about the mood, and this one was apocalyptic chic on a stormy Manhattan night.

The luckiest models wore Hawaiian print Bermuda shorts and sequined tourist sandals. Floral prints turned into some fabulous eveningwear. Jackets with puffy sleeves, wide shoulders and embroidery, though, seemed most likely to land on the must-have lists of Jacobs fans or the coolest marching band player you know.

Victoria Beckham, surprised some by unveiling a boyish, more chilled out look.

The pop star-turned designer still loves delicate pleats - which poked out in tennis white from underneath flirty asymmetrical mini-skirts - and belted body-hugging dresses.

Queen of classics, Carolina Herrera attracted all the celebrities; Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci, Ne-Yo, Christina Hendricks and Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery. The packed crowd was regaled with elegant, ethereal gowns featuring geometric motifs enhanced by the layering of fabrics.

The inspiration? Kinetic art, or art in motion.

"It's the reaction of two layers - I find that this is totally kinetic," Herrera said in a post-show interview, as well-wishers crushed around her. "It creates its own movement."

life@scmp.com

The New York Times, with additional reporting by AP and Agence France-Presse