New York Fashion Week spring-summer 2013: Marc Jacobs

The inspiration: The show was a stripped-back, no-nonsense affair set against a backdrop of a dozen swinging, mirrored doors through which models made a beeline toward the end of an immense triangular white, vinyl-paneled runway, and the '60s-inspired clothes had a similar feeling of bare-bones beauty, as if Jacobs had somehow sequenced DNA of those groovy times and grafted it to 21st-century rootstock. 

Photos: Marc Jacobs spring - summer 2013 collection

The look: That didn't mean there wasn't plenty to visually feast on in the '60s-influenced-by-the future collection; there was every manner of black-and-white stripe ranging from wide, referee-appropriate vertical bars to practically pencil-thin horizontals, gracing T-shirts, overcoats, suits, shoes, handbags and sequined shimmering pantsuits (there were also burgundy stripe and beige stripe versions of several key pieces). Although Jacobs' shows move at nearly the speed of light (the showing of the 45 looks -- and the finale -- clocked in at around seven minutes at the most), there was more than enough time to take in subtle details such as the scalloped necklines and skirt hems.

The collection wasn't just stripes and graph-paper grids; there were midriff-bearing shirt-and-skirt combination dresses in oatmeal beige, a black sweatshirt -- cropped beneath the breastbone -- emblazoned with Mickey Mouse, a few animal print pieces and some simple, straightforward solids, but nothing in the collection that deviated from the two-color rule.

The scene: Always good for a celebrity scrum, the front rows included Rose Byrne and "Bridesmaids" costar Kristen Wiig (who told us Marc Jacobs was her first show of the week), and Amanda de Cadenet.

The verdict: A pared-back palette, and emphasis on straightforward stripes and rapid-fire runway format made Marc Jacobs spring-summer 2013 collection a breath of fresh air, a Fashion Week palate cleanser that, given Jacobs' considerable influence, might well have been a push of the reset button that will be seen and felt elsewhere in the seasons to come. 

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NYFW spring-summer 2013: Billy Reid

NYFW spring-summer 2013: Erickson Beamon

New York Fashion Week spring-summer 2013: Tracy Reese