RICHARD CHAI

Richard Chai, one of this season’s terrifically talented Ecco Domani awardees, is not your typical young designer. His considerable experience (he previously worked for Marc Jacobs and TSE cashmere) is obvious in his deft sense of luxury and confident use of technique.

The origin of the word “couture” is “seam,” and Mr. Chai’s intensely crafted and polished collection brought home that fact beautifully. The complicated yet serene garments were rendered in a layered and collage-inspired fashion that made the seams the star of the show. Either running parallel across a slightly exaggerated lapel or criss-crossing at the back of a jacket, the meticulous stitches were both the main adornment and the core of the clothes.

His color palette consisted of muted shades such as ivory, olive green, navy, and eggplant. Although the silhouettes were minimal, each garment featured carefully constructed details, whether draped and open collars on silk jersey turtlenecks or small darts running down the backside of slim wool trousers. Exquisitely tailored jackets with pagoda shoulders and flared three-quarter-length skirts were sliced-up in a carefully balanced puzzle of inserts and panels. There was an Asian influence in the origami belts, silk kimono shirts, and delicate dresses draped and layered with pieces of square chiffon. Mr. Chai is part of the new wave of intelligent and skilled young designers currently transforming American fashion. Our advice is to watch him closely.

SHENAN

The big-budget fashion shows in Bryant Park tend to showcase luxurious and pricey clothes that seem to aim for somewhere around Park Avenue and 57th Street. But those skinny jeans and vintage-inspired frocks originated, of course, somewhere on the Lower East Side. Hence, if you really want to know about future trends, you need to trek southeast to find off-site presentations by and for the kind of cool downtown girls that tend to end up on Marc Jacobs’s inspiration board.

Shenan Fraguadas is such a girl. Her carefully constructed and eerily beautiful collection “Whatever Happened To Mary Jane?” took its inspiration from Victorian children’s clothing and gave it a millennial makeover. Straight black smocks with mid-thigh hemlines and pointy lace collars had a wickedly innocent appeal, as did prim and frilly high collared blouses made of soft and sensual ivory jersey. Old-fashioned touches like a starkly white crochet collar added a dramatic edge to thoroughly modern garments such as a sleek black halter jumpsuit. Ethereal bird prints on delicate silk blouses and skinny sheer lace tops paired with pleated wool skirts also nailed the slightly ghostly aesthetic. Although we may not know whatever did happen to Mary-Jane, we at least know it’s bound to happen at Bryant Park next season.

SARI GUERON

“Intelligent glamour” was the phrase that came to mind during Sari Gueron’s presentation Thursday afternoon. Showing a fiercely focused collection of just 14 dress-based looks, Ms. Gueron proved once again that she is the rare young designer with a fully developed sense of who she (and her customer) is: Someone who dresses for special occasions. Hers are not clothes you wear to the office or for a drink with friends at the local bar. The serious sophistication of a black silk gown with curved corded seams, empire waist, and a discreetly puffed skirt ending just below the knees demands at least a MoMA opening or a night at the opera.

Ms. Gueron’s previous collection featured only dresses, and although frocks were still at the core of her fall line, there was a subtle expansion into tops. Fluid cashmere cardigans with loosely ruffled fronts and simple wool jackets added a user-friendly element to glamorous gowns, such as one in sparkly black lace with a high waist and full skirt. Although pleated necklines that loop around the bust and clean, slightly off-the-body silhouettes are utterly modern features, there’s a whiff of old-world luxury about Ms. Gueron’s gowns. They call to mind the nearly extinct breed of socialite that hosts literary salons and holds educated conversations with heads of state at dinner parties. Perhaps it’s time to bring her back.

MARY PING

Mary Ping’s stark, understated, and slightly edgy clothes are tailor-made for very chic and smart young urbanites. There’s nothing girly or whimsical about a dead-straight jersey mini-dress with a slight asymmetrical dip in the hemline or a voluptuous Peruvian zip-up sweater over skinny cashmere leggings. The person who wears Ms. Ping’s collection is a confident (and very slim) clotheshorse with an understanding of luxurious materials, beautiful hand-finished details, and an architectural sense of form and proportion.

Ms. Ping was awarded Ecco Domani’s Fashion Foundation prize this season, but she didn’t let the cash and glory distract her from the disciplined and minimal aesthetic she’s developed over the past three years. Rigorous silhouettes, such as a long-sleeved column of silk velvet with twin oval cutouts in the back and a strictly tailored canvas trench with leather shoulders, were focused, innovative, and modern.

The collection also featured a few menswear looks that sported the same lean proportions in sharply cut jackets, shirts, and jeans. Ms. Ping is the kind of designer women with demanding lifestyles desperately want and need. Her elegant and quietly trendsetting clothes can go from a board meeting to a cocktail party to a rock concert with ease. Let’s just hope the retailers that dashed backstage after the presentation give us a chance to experience her collection.

DOO RI

Romance was in the air at the presentation of Doo Ri Chung’s light and feminine fall collection. The draped, gathered, and suspended garments were weightless, yet full of volume, and there was nary a straight line in sight. Clearly Ms. Chung loves soft, rounded butterfly like shapes and she managed to make sturdy cropped tweed jackets and three-quarter sleeved A-line wool dresses look wispy and ethereal. That’s not to say that there was no edge to the collection. Super-skinny black jeans with side army-inspired snaps and buttons grounded the look and the color range of charcoal, heather, black, and pale blue added depth to all the flutter. The designer’s masterful draping skills made each garment an exercise in volume: A deep V-neck wool dress sported gathered pleats in front and back while the sides stayed pencil-thin, and a fluid cowl-neck dress swelled with suspended fabric like a sail in full storm. Swarovski crystal has become a major sponsor of fledgling designers in recent years, and the company’s partnership with Doo Ri was tastefully manifested in sparkling sleeve insets and silvery back straps. And maybe the cropped coats and sculptural capelets won’t do much good in a blistering January snowstorm, but the beauty and sophistication of Ms. Chung’s clothes are sure to warm the hearts of girls of all ages.