By Francine Parnes
The Associated Press

PHOTO GALLERY

12 photos from Michael Kors, Calvin Klein and Narciso Rodrfiguez

NEW YORK - Michael Kors took the audience at his show Wednesday on a wild ride to the chic island of Capri, where he envisioned jet-set lifestyles and every move calling for yet another change of clothing, preferably in Popsicle brights and nautical styles with a sexy twist.

Looks borrowed from other places and times have hardly been scarce as the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week designer previews reached midweek. Also Wednesday, Cynthia Steffe mined the 1950s, a popular decade this season, with Capri pants, flirty petticoat shapes and dresses that recall Marilyn Monroe.

Playing to an audience that included Brooke Shields, Jessica Simpson and Melanie Griffith, Kors paid tribute to a well-heeled way of life at the resort spot that he calls his favorite.

"Capri is the only place in the world that is the ultimate runway show, except that instead of starring models it stars real people."

If Kors has his say, those people will be in the market for citrus brights, preferably orange, which lend sizzle to blazers, a suede sailing jacket, pullovers and even jeans for men.

The Kors customer likes her white cotton jeans with high-heel sandals and is not afraid to wear a yellow cashmere bra and call it a top.

Maybe it was the Elvis Presley music, or maybe it was the happy, accidental collisions of pink and green, but Steffe's show was so upbeat that some members of the audience betrayed vague smiles. Taking her cue from the late 1950s and early '60s, Steffe said that she wanted to recall the skinny Capri pants of Mary Tyler Moore, the beachy attire of Gigdet and the tight pegged skirts of Marilyn Monroe.

Why that era?

"There was so much change in a very short period of time, from the late '50s into the early '60s, when all the silhouettes changed drastically in a period of three to four years," said Steffe. "Almost every year had a change."

But a designer can't recall a decade past without adding a modern twist, so Steffe sent out a "candy" (translation: pink) tweed coat, over a pink swimsuit, with pointy high-heeled pumps - in pink, naturally.

Tuesday night belonged to heavy hitters Narciso Rodriguez and the house of Calvin Klein, where a new head designer is charged with the task of propelling forward the minimalist looks on which the company has based its name.

Rodriguez is a favored designer of the moment for red-carpet entrances. He stayed with a successful formula for which he is known: long and lean fitted dresses, just below the knee, with corset details, often cast in a sand-colored linen.

At Calvin Klein, new head designer Francisco Costa is expected to carry forward the tradition of Klein, who has sold his company. Costa chose minimalist looks in the season's popular shades of brown. Looks were as effortless and simple as a taffeta top and leather skirt, both in hues called "almond," accessorized with spring's ubiquitous high-heeled pointy-toed pump, but this time in jade.

Quiet clothes reigned, in a color called "foundation," as in makeup that comes in a toffee color. It covered everything from sheer silk knit skirts to cashmere and silk tank tops and shorts.