The Waif in Chic Clothing

Instead of presenting his collection on a runway or as a tableau vivant, Browne transformed an empty gallery space on the far West Side into a small ice skating rink, surrounded by tiny pine trees and under a steady shower of artificial snow. In casting his show, he didn't need to worry just about the models' sizes but also about whether they could skate. The models zipped around the small rink playing tag and keep-away. They were perhaps the most elegantly attired ice skaters one had ever seen.

Browne is foremost a tailor, but one with a sense of humor and lightheartedness. He marries the elegance of a gray flannel car coat with the practicality of a down parka, and the result is a crisply tailored quilted flannel parka. His cozy sweaters are tagged with vintage patches from ski resorts. His trousers, cut close to the leg, also have subtle quilting down the front of the calf, like built-in shin guards for a gentleman hockey player.

Browne put several of his models in short pants with garters holding up the socks. But that was more for a chuckle and to underscore the Old World quality of his work than to insist that grown-ups start wearing breeches to the boardroom.

Tomer

Gendler showed his intriguing collection -- called Tomer -- on Friday. It is hard to boil down to a simple phrase or to locate its inspiration in one place, although Gendler points to the general vicinity of Andalusia and England.

Gendler uses menswear fabrics that have a luxurious drape and a subtle sheen. They have a patina of age thanks to their murky colors and traditional patterns, but he applies a contemporary sensibility that dispels any hint of mothballs.

The menswear vocabulary is a limited one. That can be taken as either an excuse for boring clothes or a challenge to make expressive but wearable ones. Gendler takes the strict rules as a dare. Not one to dabble in fashion extremism, he is an inventive centrist.

The designer doesn't take the easy way out and use a stiletto sharp silhouette or tight fit to announce that his clothes are young and hip. He is not trying to strangle men with cashmere and fine woolens.

Instead, his trousers drape; they are roomy and fluid. Sometimes he plays with proportions and cuts a jacket short so it just skims the hips. He tucks details such as contrasting stripes underneath collars or along a pants pocket. His clothes have a louche quality to them, making the fellow who wears them appear loose-limbed, flexible, a little bit sketchy. Perhaps a bit too sure of himself.

Gendler infuses his clothes with a rock-and-roll mystique -- several models loped down the runway holding Gibson guitars and wearing ski caps encrusted with swirling patterns of Swarovski crystals. This is rock-star cool. When men express admiration for mysterious drummers and guitar studs, they're not interested in spandex leggings, boas and platform shoes. They're talking about self-assurance and sex appeal. They're referring to a black suit that, through the subtlety of its cut, makes clear that the wearer is headed to a lounge and not the bank.

John Bartlett, Kenneth Cole

John Bartlett traced his inspiration to an undeveloped stretch of Massachusetts coastline between Provincetown and Walden Pond. Out of that rugged tree line and rocky landscape, Bartlett extracted the essence of "butch." That is an idealized, sometimes caricatured, idea of manliness. In contrast to Varvatos, Bartlett used a mix of models in his Friday show. Several of them had noticeably burly physiques, others were dutifully sculpted. All exuded maturity, experience and an intimate knowledge of all the body's major and minor muscle groups.

The collection was filled with houndstooth and plaid, wool and flannel. The cuts were executed with an eye toward making a man look as outwardly strong as possible. Bartlett's models wore strange ski-style leather boots that made even the most graceful mannequin seem to lumber down the wood-chip walkway. His suits paid such a generous homage to the iconic outdoorsman that the models looked as though they planned to hike the Appalachian Trail on the way to the office.

Menswear designers are rightly striving for a way to give men the feeling of being unencumbered as they move through the day. Whether it is with aerodynamic suit silhouettes that are cut close to the body, the lighthearted appeal of being able to wear old-school Converse sneakers with a pair of dress pants or the more obvious references to the innocence of youth, maneuverability is essential.

Bartlett's collection lacks that ease. His models too often have the look of men who spend all their time hoisting heavy weights without bothering to make sure they're limber enough to touch their toes.

Kenneth Cole opened on Friday with his traditional video. This time, instead of focusing on a pet charity, social justice or world peace, he mocked his own industry. He teased fashion folks for their excessive use of the word "fabulous." (Your hair is fabulous! This coffee is fabulous! Those three-inch heels with a pair of micro-bloomers are fabulous!) He gently mocked his colleagues about their incessant air-kissing. He made fun of models, their over-stylized runway struts and the obsessive fans who mimic them. The video -- lighthearted, joyful, unselfconscious, distinctive -- had all the qualities one wished for in the clothes themselves.

Cole's menswear displays urban appropriateness. He makes fashion appear effortless. His young men in their skinny trousers, comfortable sweater jackets and roomy overcoats make getting dressed seem to involve little more than rolling out of bed. What one wanted was a greater sense of personality in the clothes. Cole's menswear looks modern and palatable but not special. It may be that the designer would argue that personality should come from the man, that his clothes should not strive to be witty or intellectual or erudite.

But a new generation of menswear designers, and one old stalwart, are creating clothes that have personality and panache. The clothes don't overshadow the man or costume him. They offer him just a little bit of help in living out his dreams.