It’s the end of an era as NY Fashion Week packs up tents for move to Lincoln Center

End of an era: Fashion Week ends Bryant Park run

NEW YORK — The tents that have billowed over fashion’s elite at New York Fashion Week for 17 years are coming down forever after a finale show on Thursday by Tommy Hilfiger.

Hilfiger’s fall 2010 collection was to be the last presented in the tents, which hold most of the dozens of previews put on by top designers. The semiannual event moves from the park near Times Square to a plaza within Lincoln Center in September.

“It’s the end of an era. The tents have been a great experience,” Hilfiger said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s an honor to close fashion week, but it’s bittersweet.”

Bryant Park was close enough to the garment district that designers could be seen wheeling racks of clothes to the tents. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg maintained that Fashion Week had outgrown the tents, and the garment district also changed from its manufacturing heyday, with banks, fast-food restaurants and chain retailers moving in as factories moved out, primarily to Asia.

It takes some three weeks to set up, stage and clean up after the star-studded invitation-only shows. More than 100,000 people have come through the tents this week for eight days of previews, events the city estimates generate $466 million in visitor spending a year.

Hilfiger said he planned to give a nod at his show to everyone who had made Bryant Park what it was. But he conceded that Lincoln Center might be a better place to show off his designs.

RALPH LAUREN

You know the look: It’s pretty, it’s elegant, it’s all-American. The label has got to be Ralph Lauren.

The fall collection presented captured in 50 outfits a hit parade of Lauren’s signature styles. The fashion A-listers who make their way to a remote downtown studio every season saw menswear-inspired suit pieces; delicate, simple gowns; beautiful knits; and nods to the country-club life so familiar to wearers of Lauren’s collections.

Like many other designers this season Lauren stayed close to the core message of the brand instead of experimenting with something that may or may not resonate with customers as the economy shows signs of shaky recovery.

But while the feel of this runway was familiar, there was nothing boring about an olive-colored Chesterfield coat over an ultra-feminine, floral-print georgette gown, or the chic black turtleneck worn under a delicate flutter-sleeve dress — also in a floral. A black, beaded crochet-style capelet paired with a blousoned brown velvet blouse had a vintage feel.

A handful of looks, though, took the whole Stevie Nicks theme — and all those handkerchief hems — just a little too far, especially with a Nicks soundtrack in the background.

ISAAC MIZRAHI

Isaac Mizrahi can’t resist a good story.

He likes a narrative — hence the faux newspaper article serving as notes to his fall collection.

He likes a setting — explaining the indoor sidewalk that served as his catwalk, covered in pretend snow.

He likes drama — especially the kind you get from a leather parka with a sequin hood or a peach tulle gown, nicknamed “polypuff,” with leaf-pattern beading and an explosion of uneven tiers of tulle. Those were the contrasts that were representative of Mizrahi’s fall “Central Park Story Book” collection.

“The fable begins with a kind of Cinderella tale of girls trying on glass slippers, glass coats, glass skirts and it ends with evening clothes that might be confused with camping gear,” Mizrahi said.

OK, so a quilted vest over a sparkly skirt suit will probably never be worn anywhere wilder than the Upper East Side, but anyone who’s a follower of Mizrahi knows that you have to give in to the vision. If you do, then you’ll see a skyscraper-print gown for its sophisticated graphic and a body-hugging, cashmere polar-fleece for the sexy silhouette it creates. And leather toggles on a strapless evening dress actually look pretty cool.

PROENZA SCHOULER

Just when the crowd at New York Fashion Week began drawing conclusions about the trends consumers will be wearing in the fall, Proenza Schouler had to go shake things up.

Design duo Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez’s colorful, sassy vision was a far cry from the more serious silhouettes and mostly black palette seen elsewhere.

One similarity, however, was the schoolgirl muse that has had a heavy presence on the catwalk.

Proenza Schouler kicked off their collection with a graphic, graffiti-inspired, rubber-printed pant that was paired with a toggle-closure boiled wool jacket. More of those pants came — in black, in electric blue — worn with crisp white shirts, alpine sweaters and more boiled wool jackets.

MAX AZRIA

Max and Lubov Azria stage three fashion shows at New York Fashion Week for three different lines. Still, it’s inevitable that the layering that anchored BCBG and the sexy banding that is the hallmark of Herve Leger would creep into the Max Azria label, which is supposed to be the more design-focused — and more expensive — collection.

But the Azria clothes had a refinement that was all its own.

There were neutral and black tonal looks — void of any prints — that are seductive and sophisticated because of strategic sheer panels or the way the crepe or leather grazes the feminine shape. Fabric was draped delicately but look like it’s always on the verge of being tugged off.

The end of the collection relied on some of the bandages that are so inherent to Leger. Eventually, though, the Azrias will have to decide if they can reinvent them enough to warrant their own catwalk show or if they should be incorporated into something else.

ANNA SUI

Anna Sui’s modern-hippie gal has been studying up on the history of how fine things are made — and not just clothes.

The designer, who debuted her newest styles Wednesday night at New York Fashion Week, said her inspiration of the American “Arts and Crafts” movement from the turn of the 20th century included pottery, tiles, furniture and architecture.

Learning about James McNeill Whistler was part of Sui’s journey to get her head around next season’s look, which had historical roots but youthful silhouettes. There was a vibrancy to the runway show that came certainly from the mix of textures and patterns — a little plaid with your floral, or gold leaf with your faux suede? — but some of Sui’s consistent appeal is attitude.

Associated Press writer Samantha Gross contributed to this report.