New York’s Olympus Fashion Week begins today, but two designers beat the rush, unveiling their Spring 2007 collections a day early. Yesterday afternoon, Elie Tahari showed off his elegant women’s wear, menswear, and accessories collections on mannequins in his 42nd Street showroom, across the street from the tents at Bryant Park. In the evening, Carmen Electra and former “Laguna Beach” star Kristin Cavallari were among hundreds who arrived to see Italian designer Miss Sixty turn the Guggenheim Museum into a dizzying runway.

Miss Sixty presented an angular and form-fitting collection for next spring and summer. The line was retro, drawing from a bevy of fashion moments from the 1950s to the 1980s. It featured a mélange of shapes and styles — from cigarette pants to jeans with large floral appliqués from geometrical patterned minidresses to high-waist, rinsed denim pants.

The color palette was bright, featuring recurring schemes such as yellow and black, and black, white, and red. Undoubtedly seductive, many of the most severe skirts, shorts, and dress ensembles were paired with fishnet stockings and platform shoes, while the “second-skin” denim pants were often tucked into studded, leather ankle boots, shown in red and black.

Embellishments included what the designer called “fetish-like” buckles, chains, and black leather, and 1980s-style bling in the form of rhinestones, sequins, crystals, and beads. The Miss Sixty line also had distinctly military overtones. It comprised a sharply tailored navy, double-breasted cropped blazer with brass buttons, a gold metallic leather bomber jacket, and a blue-and-white canvas nautical belt.The accessories were decidedly youthful, and included oversized purple sunglasses, a floral-print hat, and a large, rainbow-hued tote.

Far from the casual, overtly sexual clothes on view at the Guggenheim, the Elie Tahari collection was flirty, feminine, and sophisticaed. It was liberal in its use of texture-rich fabrics like damasks, linens, gossamer silks, and wide-gauge crochets. It featured two distinctly feminine silhouettes: a lean, cinched-waist hourglass that nodded to the 1950s and a more flowing and voluminous shape that recalled the following decade. Skirt and dress hemlines were generally short, ranging from midthigh to the knee.

The color palate comprised summer whites and icy blues, in addition to more muted hues like mauve, mocha, honey, and sage. Mr. Tahari employed a mix of matte light-reflecting fibers throughout the collection. He paired skirts and dresses with an eclectic mix of outerwear, from cropped cotton blazers to knee-length linen trenches to sportier jackets, made of polyester and elastine.

The collection blended contrasting forms and fabrics to create surprisingly cohesive looks. For example, an elegant silk skirt and high-neck organza blouse, both in mauve, were shown with a lightweight hooded jacket in lilac. White cuffed mini-shorts accompanied an intricately embroidered tube top and cropped jacket, also in white.

The designer says his inspiration for the collection was the 1950s American socialite Babe Paley, an aficionado of haute couture. Mr. Tahari employed couture trimmings like intricate embroidery, hand stitching, grosgrain ribbon, ruffled organza, and jeweled neckline accents.

That attention to detail is also seen in the designer’s first spring accessories collection, with its exotic, oversized leather handbags adorned with Lucite handles and engraved accents. The wide-ranging shoe collection includes ballet slippers, kitten heels with hand stitching, and stacked Lucite heels embellished with filigree work.