New  York Fashion Week Day Six

After a faltering start last season, Boss Womenswear, the female side of Hugo Boss, got on track. Staged at the top of the World Trade Center, with digital bushes challenging the view over the Manhattan waterline, designer Jason Wu’s collection was a hit.

Where the previous Boss Womenswear effort was stern, these clothes were streamlined, but appealing. Crisp geometric stripes traced a pattern on simple dresses, often creating a diamond shape. The graphic lines continued down to the flat gladiator boots.

But the core piece that made this collection work was the crisp shirt – a must-have item for next summer season. As a partner to a slim skirt whose grey brick pattern was echoed in the shirt collar, the outfit looked sharply modern.

The same idea came in different forms, but mostly as a partner to a more decorative skirt, in lacy, crunchy textures or with a metallic shimmer.

The Boss collection had a surprising number of semi-evening dresses, perhaps with a veil of chiffon over a plain, V-neck shift.

But the focus was on architectural cuts, contrasting with intensely worked textures – micro-pleating being an example. Such streamlined clothes used to be the essence of American style, so there is a touch of irony in a German-based company beating the New Yorkers at their own game.