Richie Rich

Richie Rich, formerly one-half of Heatherette, made his return to the runway true to his showman’s spirit, bringing out ballerinas and a bit of raunch for his spring 2011 preview, with Ellen DeGeneres thrown in.

The collection, "Popluxe," marks a joint venture between Richie Rich and The King Collective. Dancers in tulle dresses, including one playing the violin, opened the New York show last Thursday, accompanied by a woman acting the deejay with headphones and a turntable.

One model wore a yellow and hot pink dress with a large hot pink bow in the front. Another was dressed in a strapless hot pink stretch satin frock with ruffles.

There was a blue and white seersucker halter dress with a hot pink sash. A long-sleeve dress in a shade of nude was adorned with a paint-splatter design and was stylish and wearable. There were ruffled dresses in purple and aqua and short-shorts paired with embellished T-shirts and tank tops.

Toward the end, the show got a little raunchy. One model wore a garment that showed his bare behind. Other men were dressed in leather jackets and short-shorts, walking the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week runway with female models in bikinis.

DeGeneres closed the show in a one-of-a-kind silver and blue suit, strutting with Richie Rich as confetti rained down.

Keri Ingvarsson, chief executive of The King Collective, said the pieces will retail between $200 to $500. She said the collection is intended "for people who like to go out and who like to feel like a celebrity." — Lisa Orkin Emmanuel, Associated Press

Monique Lhuillier

If Eve needed a red carpet gown in the Garden of Eden, she would’ve called Monique Lhuillier.

Lhuillier’s spring collection had themes right out of the Bible. There was apple red, a snake print and flowers with faux petals sewn on gowns.

"This is my own Garden of Eden. There’s a snake print and that’s the temptation running through," she said before the show Monday at New York Fashion Week. "It’s about a beautiful dream I had of a girl running through this garden."

The color palette includes light pinks, nudes, mint green and blue.

"Sometimes when it’s finished I say ‘Oh now that’s a perfect dress for Gwyneth Paltrow,’ or, ‘Oh my goodness this dress is going to the Oscars,’" Lhuillier said.

Also new this season were fitted skirts cut to below the knee.

To Lhuillier, craftsmanship is a must.

"To me it’s about the foundations to my gowns. The construction inside is pretty remarkable. A lot of hours and hours go into these garments," she said.

Olivia Palermo from reality TV’s "The City" and actresses Emma Roberts and Jessica Lowndes of "90210" were at the show. — Lisa Orkin Emmanuel, Associated Press

Erin Fetherston

Erin Fetherston balanced delicate lace panels built into structured twill for day with bold look-at-me greens, corals and pinks in crepe and charmeuse for a fancy night out.

A tweeting bird on a loop and flutes of champagne greeted a downtown crowd that included Kelly Osbourne at Fetherston’s "Birds of Paradise" show for spring. Big orange blooms on long stems were placed at every seat and admirers on a wet, gloomy Sunday night gathered them in bunches.

Fetherston carried the color of her complimentary flowers into the lips of her models as she went for simple elegance in a silk bow cocktail dress. She used a muted rosette jacquard print on chiffon for a wrap skirt, one-shoulder dress and a flowing low-cut poetess blouse.

She crossed the front of a silk faille dress in neutral champagne and used cotton silk for a gathered shirt dress in coral pink.

Breaking away from neutral tones showing up all over runways at New York Fashion Week, Fetherston used bright wisteria print on silk crepe in a sleeveless pleated dress, a sheath and a kimono over black stretch.

A dress she dubbed "Birds of Paradise" was also coral pink — no match for her stunning parrot green in a bow dress done in crepe. A heathered lemongrass linen jacket was also bowed, paired with matching short-shorts and offering a different shade of bright color.

"I was very much inspired by images of flora and fauna, and sort of a bigger idea of wanderlust and traveling to exotic destinations in the pursuit of collecting items that are so unique and special and rare," the designer said backstage as she sipped a Starbucks tea before showtime.

"I was thinking about a woman who would go to the ends of the earth to find something that’s uniquely her own, and then mix it back in to her own wardrobe in a modern way."

The collection, Fetherston said, "is very much a kind of eclectic, modern offering," but it doesn’t stray from her feminine, whimsical style. — Leanne Italie, Associated Press