Calvin Klein send out showstoppers on the runways of New York Fashion Week

New York Fashion Week comes to a close Friday with rapid-fire runway shows from some of the biggest names in the industry, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren and Karl Lagerfeld. They have some tough high heels to fill, though, as Zac Posen and Calvin Klein debuted some stunning attention-grabbing looks Thursday night.

Photo: Calvin Klein send out showstoppers on the runways of New York Fashion Week

Zac Posen: Posen, now a Fashion Week veteran after four years on the catwalks, exhibits more confidence each time out. It's most noticeable at the end of the shows when he takes his bow. Instead of a quick wave, Posen now soaks in the applause from the audience, which is always one of the most star-studded crowds. (Uma Thurman, LeAnn Rimes and old pal Claire Danes were in the front row this season.)

Posen has something to be proud of. While his clothes are not always the most wearable, he pushes the envelope, and that's what moves fashion forward. For example, there probably is not room in most closets for the white satin gown with a pouffy bottom covered in feathers and topped with an ivory metallic chenille coat he sent down the runway, but it made one heck of a finale dress. Outfits one could imagine on the backs of Posen's trendsetting customers included a navy python pant and navy peacoat, a navy cotton blouse with sheer wide-leg pants in tartan plaid, and a cozy, long black angora vest with skinny black jeans.

An ivory metallic jumper and a cropped embossed leather blouse with dressy wide-leg trousers were edgy, but not too much so. Calvin Klein: It's no surprise that Francisco Costa's newest looks for Calvin Klein had a quiet coolness to them, that's the brand's signature. But amid the almost entirely black architectural collection was one of the best bright dresses seen over the past seven days of previews: an ivory, black and red spaghetti-strap dress with vertical strips of chevron- and rectangle-shaped beads.

If only a celebrity would be bold enough to step out of that classic Hollywood glamour look and take this risk on the red carpet, she'd be rewarded for reinvigorating what's become a tired parade of satin, glamourpuss gowns. Actually, there were more details, however subtle they might have been, on this runway than on most others. Pleats on dresses revealed sheer insets as models took their steps and a wool jacket, also featuring a chevron pattern, had subtle metallic threads to give just a bit of sparkle.

Vera Wang: Wang used the 1950s as a starting point for a collection that she decorated with either corsages in chunky fabrics or trench coat belts on almost every piece. Wang said she was exploring the darkness and sophistication of Mark Rothko's paintings and the film noir "The Talented Mr. Ripley." That translated to a black-and-gray color-blocked cardigan coat with a black slip dress and handkerchief ruffle and a loose belted column dress with a dark purple tulle neck ruffle that framed the model's face.

No Vera Wang show would be complete without evening gowns, and a white draped chiffon gown with a beaded strap over one shoulder, worn with ballet flats, was positively Greek goddess. J. Mendel: Bonnie, as in the 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde ", was designer Gilles Mendel's muse for this collection. She's cool and tough, and his Bonnie "gets to keep all of the money," Mendel said in his notes.

Mendel is a furrier at heart, so instead of the leather that many designers use to invoke toughness, he used sheared fur, which was sleek and contemporary. A gray broadtail blazer was definitely part of an outfit, not an outerwear afterthought. But the best and most inventive piece was a white knitted mink cardigan, belted at the waist; the ultimate example of dressed-up casual, reports the AP.

N.U.