In contrast to the soil-covered runway, the styling at Robert Geller couldn’t have been tidier, nor its allusions. A wide-brimmed hat and oversized scarf were reminiscent of Van Gogh in Provençe, bowlers with jodhpurs suggested Dickens’s London, dangling polka-dotted shirttails spoke of Comme des Garçons, and the last look was downright monastic.

It worked best when Geller stayed true to his signatures, like the loose trousers that recalled old Hollywood, a relief after years of skinny silhouettes, or the laidback layering of tanks, sweaters and jackets. Taken on their own, many of the show’s components—i.e. a two-tone overcoat, faded purple bomber, cropped double-breasted gray jacket, slim (not skinny) heather-gray pants, and full-pleated trousers in brown and goldenrod—would be enough to update a man’s wardrobe, but why stop at one?