The spring collections thus far have gamboled in directions that seem at odds from one show (tailored men's suits and doubled-up vests) to the next (ruffled floral prints on dresses cast off from Laura Ashley). Yet a handful of designers stand out simply for their clarity of thought. They have distilled their ideas neatly into clothes that can be described with a few words.

Of this lot, Thakoon Panichgul seems to have the greatest ambitions as a designer, one with a clear road map to a future that will not be limited to artful peony poufs. This season he added more sporty elements to his collection: a tailored slate wool jacket over slouchy shorts, indigo print shirts and full skirts using the Japanese shibori technique (a more meticulous form of tie-dye) and some worn with pullovers in kelly green, which is Mr. Panichgul's nod to hippie-preppy.

Evening was limited to a pair of tuxedo-derived looks, as simple as an ivory satin top tucked into a black organza pencil skirt with a bow at the waist. As the models came out for a finale, you saw how well the mood of looseness held together through to the end with cobalt and fuchsia parachute dresses that billowed madly.

One trend shaping up for spring is an abundance of graphic black and white textiles that recall Op Art paintings, or messed up checkerboards. Mr. Panichgul's were subtle, made of patchwork ticking stripes, but Ms. Cornejo's looked almost as if she had recolored traditional kente cloth for her inviting wraps and a one-shouldered sheath. Ms. Sarafpour's version was an eye-popping kaleidoscope fabric that, like the splotches of turquoise or coral beads elsewhere, relieved the drabness of her earth-tone lady coats.

The shawl-like canopies that topped some of the dresses in Jeremy Laing's collection went so far as to smack of church-lady propriety, as if he meant to atone for making clothes that in the past were so complicated as to outconstruct Frank Gehry. Like Doo-Ri Chung, Mr. Laing structures his designs with elaborate drapes and origami-like seams, pinching the fabric behind the shoulder blades on some dresses to create a deep fold that hangs across the front of the body. The simpler, or (more precisely) the restrained ideas that he brought to his spring collection, like a tailored black jacket with a convertible vent that buttoned across the back, said more, with less, about the versatility of Mr. Laing as a designer.

Ms. Chung, meanwhile, experimented with elongation, quite successfully in the straight lines of a sleeveless white pantsuit, its jacket made of tiered panels of organza and cotton sateen. The sheer black netting that shrouded some of the looks last year was far too maudlin an effect for a spring collection and needed to go. It is clear that Ms. Chung has pared the excess that comes from the bad habit of trying to please everyone.