BARBARA TFANK AUTUMN/WINTER 2015-16 READY-TO-WEAR NEW YORK

This season Barbara Tfank was thinking about luminescence, about the moonlight spilling into the window of her home. The designer is not one for a literal reference, so the inspiration took shape in Tfank’s signature uptown-girl fabrications, shimmering cloques, and brocades.

Those hoping for the daywear and separates Tfank periodically offers will have to look elsewhere. Here was an evening-heavy offering, brimming over with A-line dresses bearing cinched waists and sweetheart necklines (many of which conjured up Betty Draper), as well as floor-grazing gowns. Often it felt like Tfank’s evident passion for her materials trumped things like silhouette, though there were plenty of well-cut styles. The result was a collection that felt a bit anachronistically precious and a bit starched in places; Tfank wouldn’t be remiss in giving her next outing a little more flesh and blood to back up all those fine fabrics.