When it comes to the green movement, Miguel Adrover knows exactly where he stands. And please don't use the word trend. "It's all about marketing now," he said of the eco-craze blanketing the industry. "We need to distinguish between trend and real life." At a Tuesday presentation of his debut collection for the Germany-based Hess Natur, Adrover noted that the company, for which he's now creative director, has both "an ecological approach as well as a sociological one." And indeed, the business uses many organic materials and belongs to the Grameen Foundation, an organization that's a proponent of microcredit as a means of fighting poverty.

That afternoon at the Hudson Hotel in Manhattan, however, all attention was on the clothes, as the designer and Hess Natur chief executive officer Wolf Luedge gave editors and retailers their first glimpse of Adrover's designs for the mail-order concern. Offerings veered outdoorsy and classic, ranging from a chicly layered lambskin and alpaca wool vest to a smart beeswax-coated khaki trench. Those looking for Adrover's typical avant-garde ethos won't find it here, though. "It's important for us not to over-design," he said of the practical sensibility throughout the lineup. "This company started over 30 years ago, and we still have to take care of those customers." That attitude extends right down to the oh-so-sensible price points. The collection retails at $109 for a yak-wool sweater, $499 for a cotton trench and $159 for wool pants.

As for his own upcoming projects, Adrover, who still maintains residences in New York and Majorca, Spain, said he was in talks with Bergdorf Goodman to collaborate on a special collection.