Fashion Week has officially arrived in frigid New York and, perhaps befitting the winter doldrums, designer Richard Chai started off the fall season on a bit of a somber note. The show, which included a surprisingly star-studded front row (hey, Christina Ricci!), opened with military-inspired separates—cropped aviator jackets and pencil skirts for the girls, jumpsuits and belted coats for the boys—in a dark palette of olive and navy, teamed with various plaids and windowpanes, and some quite covetable silver space-age-y jackets.

But soon after, we got a glimpse of the usual Chai in a winning lavender and green abstract print and floaty jewel-toned frocks. Although several of the dowdy skirt-and-jacket combos missed the mark, they were quickly forgotten by the time purple and gray brocades that ended the show arrived.