For Fall, Only Donna Karan Delivers

NEW YORK, Feb. 11 -- The odor of desperation hung in the air as the fall fashion shows came to a close here. Young designers stretched their immature talent beyond their limits. A more established hand indulged in high concept experimentation, failed to consider the needs of the customer and looked ridiculous. A big brand rested on its reputation. And a few designers just seemed to have come down with a nasty case of the uglies. One can only hope that it's not contagious.

Only designer Donna Karan got everything right. In the collection she presented Friday afternoon, her love for New York, women and soul-searching were perfectly balanced and blended. Karan always ends her program notes with the phrase "To be continued." The words suggest she understands that her dialogue with women is in constant flux. The topics of concern shift, the emotions rise and fall with life changes and obligations are ever increasing. Karan draws energy from that inconsistency.

Much has been written about the designer's longing for personal growth, about her search for peace and focus through yoga, through meditation, through raw food.

All of those notions make for fine gossip. But Karan is one of the few designers whose admirable goal is to aid a woman in finding security, confidence and herself as the hectic energy of New York -- or any city -- spins around her.

For fall, Karan limits her color palette to black, charcoal, red and purple. Only occasionally does she inject a spark of white or a glimmer of gold. She molds her coatdresses to stand just slightly away from the body, echoing its hourglass shape. Her fluid dresses with their cowl backs fall seductively down the body and allow for an alluring view of a woman's spine, her waist and the gentle slope that leads to her derriere. The clothes tease the eye, but they aren't coquettish. They evoke self-assurance. These are womanly clothes that speak of intelligence without being all twisted up, raw-edged and incomprehensibly "intellectual."

Karan's clothes do not look as though they have been created to satisfy the impetuous desires of the latest Vanity Fair cover starlet. These clothes are too smart for the typical winsome actress or junior socialite.

Susan Sarandon, yes. Paris Hilton, no. They're not full of sequins or ruffles. Necklines don't plunge recklessly. No, there is cool calculation in just how far that cashmere and jersey will recede. These clothes don't live without a woman in them. Put them on a dress form and they are little more than expressionless technique. A woman's swan neck rising up from a jeweled neckline gives the dress its regal attitude. Her strong back is what makes a flowing gown sexy.

Karan highlights the parts of a woman's body that speak of effort, strength and determination. There is powerful symbolism in the vision of a graceful woman with a back rippling with muscles. They do not get there by chance. They are earned. Strong shoulders are not bought through plastic surgery. They are built with sweat and concerted effort.

In celebrating a woman's strength -- both physical and mental -- Karan does not lose sight of her customers' sensuality, of her desire to be romanced. There is a vulnerability to these dresses with their insets of transparent illusion netting. They are not only approachable, but also touchable. Karan's clothes articulate the complicated message that women themselves so often have difficulty putting into words: Strength, confidence and independence do not negate a desire and a need for a confidante, a partner and a little breathless romance.

Karan's collection was also inspiring because it showed such perfect balance between a designer's desire to be creative and the customer's desire to not look like they're wearing an art project. The collection that Francisco Costa showed under the Calvin Klein label lacked balance. No one was advocating for women. No one was reminding the designer that he is at work within the confines of an established aesthetic. He can expand it, modernize it or reinterpret it. But he should also respect it.

For spring, Costa offered one of the most beautiful collections of the season. It expressed his own artful desires but it also spoke of the minimalism and modernism that define the Calvin Klein brand. For fall, Costa, showing in the company's new loft-like exhibition space, presented a collection of mostly translucent gowns intricately woven with a chevron pattern. Dresses were embroidered and often included chiffon bras with straps visible from the back. There were ruffles and toggles that looked like they had been molded from chunks of bamboo. As a diplomatic and indulgent parent might say, one could tell that Costa had put a lot of work into that collection. Indeed, every bit of energy, angst and labor was evident in each garment. There was nothing easy or effortless about these clothes. One could practically see the designer's sweaty fingerprints on each piece of chiffon. It was an exhausting collection to watch. It teetered dangerously toward the sort of wearable art that one might find at a craft show.

That's not necessarily an unattractive product, but it's not fashion.