NEW YORK, September 9, 2006 – With her new husband, Richard Ehrlich, watching from the front row, along with Mischa Barton and Jared Leto, L.A. up-and-comer Jenni Kayne sent out her most focused collection to date. It was long on short shorts, cardigans, and brief little dresses that don't work any place but the beach (and why should they?). There were also numerous chiffon camis with delicately twisted straps. For after dark, Kayne made belted caftans of the sort that pleasantly evoke Malibu evenings in the seventies—a decade she's not old enough to remember.

A true California girl, Kayne isn't afraid of prints—for spring she did an oversized floral that appeared on everything from ruched maillots to pleated gowns. She's also comfortable with color: The runway was a swirl of chartreuse, teal, navy, aubergine, and brown, as well as salmon, saffron, mustard, and black. It could all have been much too much, but it worked, as did Kayne's leathers. She showed trenches (cropped and knee-length), motorcycle jackets, and a cocoon coat with a pin-tucked hem—every piece was buttery soft, but tailored sharp as a blade, and each one was more covetable than the last.

– Nicole Phelps