"I've always loved her and her work," Camilla Stærk said, a few days before show time, of the interior designer Andrée Putman. "She completely embodies the chic French woman." It's no surprise that Putman, who favors black and white for her day-to-day uniform, should strike a chord with Stærk: The designer has never met a shade of black she doesn't like—as this polished 15-piece presentation proved.

The trick to a monochrome look, as both Putman and Stærk surely know, is texture. Stærk created hers this season with an embossed alligator print that she'd developed; it added depth to a dolman-sleeve leather jacket and romantic, roomy velvet top that cinched closed at the shoulders. There was white, too. It looked sharp on half of a draped silk dress (guess what color the other half was?) with a low, loose V-neck and cool zigzag running across the front. Another lighter-side hit was an alluring, ghostly gown in gray-violet velvet with a burnout print. Draped and goddess-y, that dress, along with most everything, had a much freer feel than Stærk's past work. Put it all together with her skin-hugging signatures, like a skinny leather pant, and a more fully formed wardrobe philosophy had emerged.
—Alison Baenen