NEW YORK, September 12, 2007 – Donna Karan worked both sides of the structure/flow divide in her Spring collection. Picking up on the current trend for tailoring, she showed short-sleeve jackets with portrait collars, pairing them with slim skirts that dipped below the knee. The effect: a more feminine take on the power suit. A harder sell for the boardroom, though, were the full skirts she dubbed "parasols" (the term gives a good idea of their girth). Back on the crisp, breezy side of things were a blouse and short A-line skirt in denim, as well as shirtdresses in caramel waxed cotton or indigo linen, and a pretty red strapless dress, one of the show's few shots of color.

These were juxtaposed with Karan's signature soft, stretch jerseys, most often in pale shades of nude but also in chalky white and silver gray. They crisscrossed at the neck, wrapped around the torso, and grazed the tops of her sculpted wood mules, and the best of them exuded the kind of confident sensuality you associate with a woman like Kelly Lynch, who sat next to Demi Moore in the front row. Whether the silhouette was lean and languid or full, belts played a central role, coming in raffia and leather or lace. An artisanal motif materialized in floral appliqués, in a hem of cork at the bottom of an organza skirt, and in tulle densely embroidered with arabesques of silk ribbon. Out of place, they were slipups in an otherwise urbane show.

– Nicole Phelps