NEW YORK—The hedge fund and home mortgage news might be dismal, but the New York runways hailing Spring-Summer ’08 fashions certainly did not reflect it. Instead, designers churned out fluid fashions in colorful hues that signal brighter times ahead. The more than 60 designers who showed nonstop on the catwalks in Bryant Park Sept. 5 to 12 embodied a Pantone wheel of colors and a variety of prints.

Spring’s theme celebrates the feminine mystique in graceful glamour that is fresh and trend-right, punctuated by strong, happy colors and bold prints. The look was much more polished overall, with a return to the body and sublime sexiness with layered, sheer diaphanous fabric like chiffon and organza. The flavor is feminine without being girly. The reality is anything goes; there truly is something for everyone as the latest designs reflect a fusion of influences—in cultures, colors, shapes, textures and patterns.