On the anniversary of 9/11, and on the eve of more engagement in the Middle East, Marc Jacobs sent out a military-informed collection covered in large buttons and baubles resembling macaroons. With the show’s all-pink staging, the message seemed to be: let’s settle our differences with tasty French treats and live la vie en rose.

Ok, not exactly, but not far off. Jacobs said he was thinking about uniforms and the anonymity, invisibility they provide. That thought process manifested as wool canvas cargo pants, short skirts, and oversized tops packed with pockets and decoration, though not in any fancy, historical way — rather in a standard-issue, army-surplus sort of way. Those macaroon buttons? They were resin cabochons.

And therein lies the meaning, or lack thereof. These are symbolic clothes alluding to many things, but are themselves devoid of meaning — as is fashion. A cynical view, perhaps, but these are cynical times. Meanwhile, on Beats headsets, an immersive computerized voice described random domestic situations. It didn’t make gobs of sense, which was probably precisely the point.