NEW YORK, September 13, 2006 – Carlos Miele opened his Bryant Park show with a quartet of models standing around chatting as if at a cocktail party—a fitting scenario for this collection, which was almost entirely given over to the sort of evening looks one might find at a chic beachside bash. Save for a few shorts and bikinis, it was a parade of sexy, bias-cut chiffon dresses, mostly in bright colors or prints, often embroidered with crystal details, but with little, other than length, to distinguish one from the next. Evident throughout were the artisan techniques Miele uses to delicate effect. Still, the collection needed more variety.

While there's certainly a market for that dress—in Miele's native Brazil and Palm Beach and other parts—the global customer he is aiming to reach by showing in New York can hardly live by wispy silk confections alone. It would be nice to see the designer acknowledge that life is not always a beach, and bring his sense of flair to pieces that would work for locales other than the seaside.

– Joanna Rodger