Clothes that figure to click

WITH an overgrown computer terminal at the top of the runway at Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld answered the question of why it’s been so difficult to define the spring fashion season.

Capturing the mood that has gripped the runways over the past few weeks and, indeed, the past few years, he suggested that fashion today surfs decades, muses and cultures with the speed of an Internet search. So the sum of a season is not a handful of must-have trends but a whole universe of ideas for women to “click” on.

Aside from the tool box of Chanel signatures Lagerfeld always dips into, the most obvious touchstone for this collection was James Dean (2005 is the 50th anniversary of the actor’s death). Lagerfeld continued to push his idea of androgynous dressing by putting men and women on the runway together. Male models with Dean pompadours wore blue jeans, white T-shirts and boucle biker jackets edged in delicate silver chains, or leggings and long cardigans with chain belts, all of which would look just as well on the women’s side of a Chanel store. But no man belongs in boucle, and one imagines the rebel without a cause rolling over in his grave at the suggestion.

The advent of the digital age was also among the mishmash of references. A raspberry plaid jacket with zipper side pockets, when paired with a lively print T-shirt, seemed relaxed and modern, but the 1980s-era lace bike shorts and leggings that turned up under long tuxedo jackets and crocheted sweater coats were probably best left in the past.

A better proposition were skinny Bermuda shorts in denim with salt ‘n’ pepper tweed trim or lemon-yellow boucle with a subtle floral imprint and fringe at the bottom. The seams of a yellow boucle jacket were traced in purple and red, and a long chiffon shirt dress came in a linear print that echoed the Beaux Arts steel framework of the newly restored Grand Palais, where the show was held.

Cuff bracelets were decorated with alphabet cubes resembling computer keys that spelled out Chanel, hobo bags came in a patchwork of tweeds and prints, and shoes were stiletto-boot hybrids with open toes and fold-over cuffs, cinched around the ankle with laces. For evening, Lagerfeld returned to the 1950s, with poufy taffeta dresses covered in black camellia blooms. All said, the show was a lovely bouquet.

Perhaps it was the birth of her first child in February that prompted Stella McCartney to give up party-girl faddishness in favor of a more grown-up look. She offered lots of softly tailored suits that would look great on a young career woman, in shades of biscuit brown, dove gray and ocean blue. Jackets came in single- or double-breasted styles, and pants were cut full at the top, tapering to a stiletto-clad foot. The long sleeves on a pale blue-striped shirt dress were sliced open to reveal tanned shoulders, and a T-shirt chemise came in an understated gold and silver chain print.

Even the voluminous jackets and jumpsuits that have become McCartney signatures were more refined this season, without all the buckles and straps that have complicated things in the past.

Short, corseted dresses in black or sunset orange could move easily from day to night. But the real showstoppers were long, billowy chiffon gowns inspired by artist Jeff Koons, who sat in the front row. The prints were inspired by his paintings “Lips,” “Streams” and “Pink Bow.” Koons’ iconic “Rabbit” sculpture was scaled down and reinterpreted into pendants for necklaces and charms for bracelets and, no doubt, inspired the silver foil bags worn across the body too.

He’s made his models walk through water, act as pawns in a human chess game, and cavort with live wolves. But this season, Alexander McQueen showed women nothing but love, casting them as Greek goddesses. Of course, in his hands, the clothes were anything but classical. A draped white jersey gown cut low in front, with a mess of skinny gold chains covering the breasts, and a super-short cocktail sheath wrapped in gold mesh ribbons were sexy and inventive enough for the red carpet. Less realistic perhaps were thigh-skimming skirts with silver lame knife pleats or swinging crystal fringe, worn with gladiator sandals, arm cuffs and wide belts. Costumey? Sure, but really, what woman doesn’t fantasize about dressing like Wonder Woman?

More than just selling esoteric ideas, this season McQueen appeared to be committed to selling clothes. His severe tailoring was softened with real women and real life in mind, which explains the series of dressy black separates worn with black opaque stockings that opened the show. An hourglass-shaped jacket sliced open in front topped a ruffle-hem miniskirt. And a cropped tux jacket with buttoned satin lapels was worn with cuffed satin shorts for an updated version of “le smoking.”

In her first outing for Celine, Ukrainian designer Ivana Omazic put the house back on track. Her understated (verging, perhaps, on the boring) collection should go a long way toward recapturing fans of the label when Michael Kors was designing it. Chiffon dresses in punch bowl reds and oranges, as well as basic navy, appeared in a half-dozen silhouettes -- wrapped in front, with delicately scalloped shoulder straps, high waists, pin tucks and more. There was a surfeit of skirts as well, one of the prettiest with a giant flower printed on the front. On top were gauzy crochet shawls or sweet little cardigans.

Wide headbands and knee socks worn with square-toe pumps gave the whole thing a vaguely 1960s Ali MacGraw feel. But the show could have used an edit because the same navy chiffon dress seemed to come out several times. And the in-your-face display of handbags (slung over shoulders, on wrists and behind the back, sometimes two at a time) came dangerously close to giving the impression that Celine is really only interested in selling accessories.

The Swiss label Akris has grown into a mini-phenomenon, offering women office-appropriate options that are not Giorgio Armani. For spring, designer Albert Kriemler said he was inspired by Richard Avedon’s photos of Anjelica Huston in the 1970s. The collection was worked in a neutral palette of nude, blush, putty and smoke. There were lots of reserved accordion pleat skirts and boxy jackets in leather, crochet knit or linen, one of the most interesting embellished with a collection of wooden buttons.

Pants came long and lean with buttoned patch pockets over the hips. And an ombre brown strapless dress encased in a barely there cloud of organza was a safe experiment in volume. Ribbon skirts, with the ends dangling on one side, played into spring’s penchant for pretty as did jackets with cropped organza shirts layered on top for a soft touch. Although it wasn’t a particularly directional collection, there was something here that should click with almost every woman.