Calvin Klein returns to New York

In what the New York Observer called a triumphant return, Calvin Klein Menswear put its first show in New York Fashion Week after 11 shows in Milan. This was the first time creative director Italo Zucchelli has shown in New York, and the glitterati made sure to pay homage: Chace Crawford of Gossip Girl and Kanye West were both in front row. Like in collections past, Zucchelli's own brand of futurism was a central theme, this time in the somber monochromatic tones of "The Recession." One- or two-tone gray suits walked down the runway, sometimes made out of materials that recalled Robert Patrick's liquid metal T-1000 in Terminator 2. In what was mostly a commercial collection (heavy on wearable sleek overcoats and bomber jackets), Zucchelli's broad-shouldered suits, military boots and use of synthetic fabrics suggested a man ready to deal with the worst of what this recession might bring.