Pardon, Your Slips Are Showing

The show makes people believe they just might be witnessing the advent of the next great American designer. Yet each time one of those contestants fails miserably at a challenge, the audience is given a tiny reminder of how difficult it is to succeed in fashion.

Even award-winning designers struggle to create clothes that are consistently fresh and enticing. Calvin Klein's Francisco Costa, who was just named womenswear designer of the year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, presented a collection Thursday evening that wobbled and floundered and occasionally tipped over into "ugly." Costa, who was also a "Runway" guest judge this season, has every advantage. He's not trying to pull together a collection in a couple of weeks with only $8,000, although at times it looked as though that was precisely what he had done.

Calvin Klein is an established brand, but in many ways, Costa is like many other new designers as he tries to establish himself as a lasting talent on par with the company's namesake. Klein, Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan are American fashion's reigning triumvirate. It may be impossible for another designer to come along and build a business akin to Lauren's billion-dollar brand. The nature of the fashion business has changed dramatically since Lauren was just starting out, and megabrands built on a single designer's vision may no longer be possible. The best Costa may be able to do is keep the women's ready-to-wear division alive, keep it from crumbling so that the brand becomes nothing more than underwear, fragrances and sexy marketing.

New American designers don't have to plaster their brand name all over the world. But they will have to establish themselves as having a consistent vision. The average person with a passing interest in fashion can describe fashion's big guns in only a few words. Lauren is preppy and tasteful. Klein is minimalist and sexy. Karan is sensual and womanly.

What is Costa? He certainly is not carrying on the Klein tradition. His clothes can be girlish, tailored, artsy and sometimes even deconstructed. His collection for spring owed an enormous debt to designers Issey Miyake and Helmut Lang. It was a mix of austere layers with futuristic cutouts. But there were also dresses with romantic pleats, folds and layers that sometimes stood away from the body in unflattering ways. It was as though the idea of the dress, and how cool it might be, superseded the importance that it flatters a woman's figure or at least is something that she can wear with ease. One often had the feeling the dresses had been crafted on a wooden mannequin in an artist's studio but had never been tested on a warm body until they were on the runway and one of the models nearly tripped over her hem.

In the last few years, much has been made about a rising group of designers such as Behnaz Sarafpour, Sari Gueron, Doori Chung, Phillip Lim and Zac Posen. Their talent is undeniable. Any one of them has the ability to craft a beautiful dress. And there are subtle distinctions between them. Sarafpour's clothes tend to be classic and tailored, Chung is known for the fluid drape of her clothes. Gueron has excelled at dressmaking. Lim's work is sporty but with a nod to the esoteric. Posen is a showman. But they all still face the challenge of truly distinguishing their work from the pack.

Sarafpour struggles with consistency. Her last few collections have lacked energy and creativity. It is if her attention has been absorbed by other things. For spring, she offers a few black-and-white prints, skinny pants, cap-sleeve dresses and trapeze coats. But so does everyone else.

Gueron has embraced what might be called "day gowns." They are long cotton dresses that aren't especially formal even as they sweep the floor. The dresses are beautifully made and romantic, but mostly impractical. And as much as one loves the sweet fragility of her clothes, they can easily get lost in a cacophony of voices. These designers don't need to make clothes that are the equivalent of coarse, rude shouting. Even a whisper can be heard if the speaker has something captivating to say.

Posen is certainly the best known of the emerging generation. By force of personality, famous friends and talent he has propelled himself into the spotlight. (He, too, has been a "Project Runway" guest judge.) Posen has a reputation for the complicated construction of his clothes, their Old Hollywood glamour and their drama. Often Posen's clothes can be overwhelming. Or he will fail to make good on an elaborate idea. To his credit, the collection he showed Thursday night emphasized one of his less flamboyant talents: his skill for blending unlikely proportions and surprising details. He mixed a mannish charcoal-gray cropped jacket with a frilly blush-colored skirt, for instance.

Chung and Lim have among the most distinctive voices in the crowd. Chung's collection for spring, shown Friday evening, hits all of the main notes that have dominated the season: volume, neutral colors, sweetness. But she makes it all distinctively her own.

The blousy tops have a splash of caviar beads at the shoulders. She plays with the idea of the tuxedo by using cummerbund details and making sly references to tuxedo shirts. And her trapeze dresses have multiple layers that catch the eye as the models turn to reveal a sudden splash of color.

Lim, whose collection is known as 3.1 Phillip Lim, had one of the surprising presentations of the season. His show was confident and artful as models walked down a long, narrow storage space and posed atop wooden platforms. Lim's most striking piece was relatively simple: He transformed an oversize white T-shirt into an easy dress and decorated it with white sculpted roses. He took an idea that has been belabored on the runways and made it special. His version will be the one that will be remembered six months from now.