In these dark days, some lights shine

The prevailing dark trend and its strong showing on the runway left many of the lighter collections feeling completely irrelevant and out of step. But there were some designers who pulled it off, with refreshing looks inspired by Highlands shooting parties, modern art and even femmes fatales.

Ralph Lauren

Lauren never strays far from his aristocratic base, and this season his aristocrats went on a Highlands shooting party. That added up to lots of what Lauren does best: skinny Glen plaid suits with softly tailored peplum jackets and the matching pants, long and lean, and lush patterned sweaters belted over cashmere leggings or suede jodhpurs, worn with over-the-knee riding boots. For evening, he moved from earthy colors to black velvet -- a jacket came with gold braid detail -- and brought in metallics, pairing a gold lame skirt with a loden green cable-knit sweater and olive duster coat. And proving that he is the original mix master, he showed a purple ball skirt with a chunky cardigan vest belted over it.

Vera Wang

The buzz in the industry this week is that Wang is in talks to become creative director of St. John. Backstage she stayed mum, while the collection she showed on the runway was miles away from the Irvine-based knit-suit empire. Mark Rothko was the inspiration for the best pieces -- ethereal, ombre chiffon goddess gowns that borrowed from the artist’s floating rectangle paintings. The rest was drab and dowdy, out of step with the more aggressive mood overtaking fashion. Wang worked a roomy silhouette in a dark palette of gray, navy and black, showing a gray wool check skirt and matching short sleeve jacket with raw edges, a crinkly blue brocade cardigan and bubble-hem dress, and a navy satin black trapeze dress, all embellished with fabric corsages and bits of feathers and tulle.

Chado Ralph Rucci

Part of the fun of Rucci’s shows is seeing how he will push the envelope of luxury. (A broadtail suit, anyone? A yellow chinchilla jacket?) This season, his most interesting work was done in leather: a lambskin anorak with layered leather scales arranged to look like a tortoise shell; a cream suede coat with bubble-shaped perforations so intricate they must have been cut under a microscope; and a woven leather “cage” layered over the most outrageous full-length sable coat. Rucci also showed a ski parka and matching skirt in a black “sfumato” print that brought to mind gathering clouds. For evening, a black slip dress was covered with jet beads the size of rock candy, and a navy jersey gown was sliced with mesh insets.

Zac Posen

Posen may have made his name on party dresses, all fussy loops, pulleys and handkerchief hems. But this season, he focused on simpler, more sculptural pieces, beginning with a navy peacoat with linebacker-sized shoulder pads (balanced atop python leggings), and moving onto a working girl white shirt with pleated sleeves and a snug navy pencil skirt. Most of it was (gasp!) immensely wearable, save for a few blah shifts and fantastical finale gowns.

Temperley

Alice Temperley, the London-based designer who recently opened up shop on Melrose Place in L.A., must have fallen in love with Hollywood during her visit, because her collection was all about 1940s femmes fatales. Eager to prove she is not limited to her trademark dresses, she opened the show with a puff of smoke and an hourglass-shaped gray velvet pantsuit, topped with a Marlene Dietrich beret. It was fine, but her dresses are better, and this season she used a lighter touch when it came to embellishment, which kept her signature swingy silk-beaded, plunging-V-neck styles from looking too showgirl. Her best pieces were not spangled at all -- namely a cream wrap dress with black velvet cut-outs at the cuffs and hem, and a pink orchid intarsia sweater dress.

Michon Schur

Los Angeles-based designer Stephanie Schur’s sophomore showing was a tightly edited group of incredibly chic cocktail looks -- vintage inspired but thoroughly modern in spirit. A sleeveless black satin dress with a rectangular panel of slatted cream satin across the top was another Rothko inspiration, Schur said. Other charming pieces included a cream taffeta and black burnout velvet floral dress with a lopsided cowl neck; a duchess satin jacket with fan details at the collar in fall’s favorite marigold shade, paired with navy cigarette pants; and a black, square-neck braided knit dress with two rows of buttons on the bodice.

Manuel

The new collection from legendary rodeo tailor Manuel Cuevas was a disappointment, with black leather blazers and python pants embellished with crystal crosses looking like lesser versions of Chrome Hearts. The jeans came in dingy washes and were not well fitted. When Cuevas ventured further west, things improved, with a whipstitch caramel leather jacket with a spray of turquoise stones around the shoulders and a white tuxedo shirt swinging crystal fringe. But fashion snobs be damned, the cowboy-booted audience loved every minute, especially the rhinestone studded “state jackets” embroidered with imagery from New York, California, Texas and Tennessee, Cuevas’ home.