Designers love to mine Americana for inspiration. For its first show, newbie label Creatures of the Wind offered the equivalent of a Spaghetti Western directed by John Waters, beginning with the opening eerie cowboy-movie music.

The well-rounded, 30-look collection was full of retro touches, including a clashy-matchy color palette (kelly green, pink, marigold, blue), shiny winkle-picker shoes, and down-home materials like chambray and gingham. Yet this was clearly a city-slicker’s wardrobe, with uncomplicated cuts, swingy skirts that hit at the knee, straight-cut pants simple enough to pull off an out-there pattern, and creatively embellished jackets that managed to be special without screaming.

The abundance of salable separates begging to be mixed and matched showed that Shane Gabier and Chris Peters have been listening to their mentors at the CFDA. But the Creatures kept to their quirky roots, and there were reminders of their love of detail in the form of oversized Swarovski gems. The result was a delightfully off and proudly synthetic, down to the final gown, a flouncy concoction of hand-loomed cotton and plastic raffia with snake-print poly lamé.