New York Fashion Week opened Wednesday with an understated and elegant Ralph Lauren show. It was a busy evening where Miu Miu tag-teamed with Coco Gauff nearby and Dior opened a new flagship.

 
Ralph also hosted a post-show dinner in his baronial restaurant Polo Bar on Fifth Avenue, while close by in Rockefeller Center, the Council of Fashion Designers of America threw a season-warming cocktail in the Rainbow Room.
 
Rounding off a busy day, Valentino invited fans to one of the city’s most legendary hotspots, Studio 54, to launch its new beauty line, as Paper magazine lured the younger set with a fete in Noho.

All told, a madding Midtown Manhattan moment, although the scene was relaxed and insouciant at Ralph Lauren. Whose show was held inside his HQ on the ninth floor of 650 Madison, a late-1950s skyscraper.

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The set was a très juste modernist statement. All in white with a curving Robert Mallet Stevens-worthy stairway, white seating and black wicker chandeliers.
 
Understated elegance was the leitmotif of this collection, where taut feline Ozempic silhouettes were juxtaposed by sensual volumes. Haute Hamptons chic, with superb white redingotes worn with black bikini tops and slouchy pants. 
 
“It’s time to stay simple and let the clothes tell the story. There’s a personal spirit to the collection I want to share in the intimacy of the place where it all began,” commented Ralph.

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In some smart styling, dashes of sinful red – bustier dresses, pant suits with elephantine trousers or trenches over mannish pants and espadrille wedges. All sorts of variations of black and white stripe cardigans, blouses, and frocks – often topped by giant Provençal-meets-Montauk straw hats.
 
Adding to the love, a charming remix of the Bee Gees classic tune ‘More Than a Woman’. The lyrics: “You got me working day and night. Just trying to keep a hold on you,” summed up the easy beauty of the cast and clothes.  
 
Uber star power in the front row saw a slimline Oprah Winfrey sat front row beaming throughout the show.
 
“I loved the dramatic black and white gowns, and the red flowing coats and skirts, because I think you wear red when you know you have won!” enthused long-time fan Oprah.

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Asked why she connected so much with Ralph, Winfrey responded: “I think because we both worked our way up, earned our own way, did it our way, and did it for ourselves. No one gave us anything, and there you go,” smiled the legendary talk show host wearing a ruffle neck under a boyish white cotton shirt.
 
At the finale, a smiling Ralph, looking frail but determined, took his bow on a lower step of the stairs. Before wife Ricky embraced him in a warm hug, the crowd rising in a long-lasting ovation.
 
Technically speaking, the six-day NYFW does not kick off until Thursday, although Ralph’s display felt very much like the season opener. The heavyweight champion of American fashion making a light and nonchalant statement, in marked juxtaposition to our current political times.
 
From intimacy to a ginormous urban vista as designers, buyers and editors gathered on the 65th floor of Rockefeller Center. Downing espresso martinis courtesy of Starbucks at the CFDA reception.

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Referencing the center’s famed statue of Prometheus, CFDA CEO Steven Kolb connected Greek mythology to fashion in his speech, as they are “both about creativity and bold actions.”
 
This season marks the second time that the CFDA will livestream all shows on three giant screens to reach a wide public, noted Kolb, before two Annas (Sui and Wintour), Michal Kors and CFDA Chairman Thom Browne joined him for a group shot.