New York Fashion Week: Carolina Herrera, Phillip Lim, Tommy Hilfiger, Carmen Marc Valvo

BY SAMANTHA CRITCHELL/AP FASHION WRITER

NEW YORK (AP) — The story of New York Fashion Week has been told in mostly black and white — making it that much harder to ignore all the unusual prints on the runway.

And it’s not just pretty florals or polka dots. Carolina Herrera showed an abstract geometric print on Monday, while Tommy Hilfiger was inspired by ropes at his runway show on the High Line, the outdoor, above-the-concrete outdoor walkway on Manhattan’s West Side.

In earlier previews, Thakoon Panichgul had playful birds, Suno had a retro cell phone print and Jason Wu had prints reminiscent of an X-Ray. At Rebecca Taylor the print was Hawaiian, with fish scales at Monique Lhuillier and “space clouds” at Nicole Miller.

“Prints are personality, they have emotion, they tell a story,” said Stacey Bendet,  designer of Alice and Olivia — herself wearing a leopard-print dress on Monday to present a collection that included a variety of florals — from digital prints to painterly and candy-colored.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week continues through Thursday before the fashion crowd heads to London, Milan and Paris.

CAROLINA HERRERA

When you’re Carolina Herrera, there is no reason to stand in your stiletto heels way out on a limb. Herrera tweaked her signature chic look just enough to be in line with some of the emerging trends without straying too far from what her woman likes.

She moved everything a bit away from the body and she played a lot with hemlines. Herrera gave a name to the popular dress length just a tad below mid-calf that’s graced many catwalks during these previews for editors, buyers and stylists: the “longuette” dress.

But to go with the vibe of relaxed glamour that also has been pervasive, she trimmed pantsuits into shorts suits, even for evening, turning out black wool cropped jacket with white piping paired with black wool flounce shorts, and a cream-colored distressed organza jacket with pleated shorts, both decorated with gold “lightening” embroidery.

Her usual ballgown evolved into more of a slip-style gown with floral embellishment. There was a purposeful mix of romantic fabrics and details with the modern print and pale shades of blue, green, gray, orange and yellow.

TOMMY HILFIGER