Francisco Costa, the designer at Calvin Klein, takes his mandate as New York's minimalist-in-chief quite seriously. His commitment to the line is admirable: Each of the looks in today's collection could've been cut with laser. The palette was navy, black, and gray; any bits of flash were subdued, in some cases beneath a layer of sheer cashmere. Necklines were high, skirt lengths modest. The danger with such prude silhouettes is that certain looks, such as a steel gray shift, can look dully corporate. But when done perfectly — on a barely cocooning coat, say — the effect is as chic as can be. In Costa's latest collection, both extremes were in evidence. —Amy Larocca

Browse a slideshow of the Calvin Klein show.