New York Fashion Week: Perry Ellis gets back on the grid

After a three-season hiatus, Perry Ellis returned to the New York Fashion Week lineup with a Thursday runway show here.

The inspiration: For his debut collection, new creative director Michael Maccari cited two inspirations. One was the artwork of painter/print maker Sean Scully -- particularly the artist’s use of repeating stripes and bold color.

Maccari also took inspiration from the streets -- specifically the linear elements of New York City’s architectural grid. (It’s a more abstract interpretation than the city-street-grid-inspired elements of the spring 2015 Jack Spade collection).

The look: The resulting collection was a lot like the city that inspired it: bold in some places, almost fluid in others. There were hard architectural elements -- gridded blazers and shorts, stripes, checkerboard sweaters and a super-bold black-and-white geometric suit -- mixed in with organic elements like floral print shirts and suits and repeating patterns reminiscent tree bark on anoraks and suits. (It should be noted that the entire venue was constructed out of so much bare, blond wood there was a pervasive “fresh from the sawmill” scent).

A big emphasis was on pieces with technical properties -- two-piece anoraks, neoprene blazers, reflective fabric shorts and blazers -- and athletic pieces layered in with traditional sportswear. Maccari said that was a conscious response to the man of today.

“I see it on the street,” he told us. “It’s not just working out or wear-to-work .... This is an infusion of activewear into an elegant lifestyle.”

Key pieces: Call us old-fashioned, but our favorite piece was a more traditional delft blue twill suit. Though for the guy who likes to make his own way through the fashion forest, the bark prints and the florals are an organic way to go bold.

The scene: Since when does Jay Pharoah (“SNL”) do the fashion week thing? Well, since now. He was among the notable front-row faces we spotted at the show -- decked out in a plaid Perry Ellis suit, rocking a natty lid and chatting amiably with all comers. (And, though he told us he’s not that much of a follower of fashion he did confess a weakness for Guiseppe Zanotti and Christian Louboutin shoes and said he opts for John Varvatos in red carpet situations.)

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