Prabal Gurung spent five years as a design assistant at Bill Blass. In spite of, or perhaps facilitated by, the revolving door of designers at the house, Gurung was able to evolve his own sensibility, one that reflects the glamour of the master himself, with an au courant air. In his first collection under his own label, Gurung offered 20 polished, elegant looks ($400 to $2,500), which he refers to as “clothes for a thinking man’s sex symbol. Dare I say,” he added, “for the anti-Paris Hilton.” Indeed, his clothes seem suited perfectly to chic grown-ups — a common-sense customer concept that has already informed the collections of a number of emerging types showing this week.

Such women will welcome those sculpted, double-faced cashmere jackets and coats in red, fawn or black, worn with draped leather skirts or languid jersey dresses. “I was inspired by the colors of Nepal, where I was born,” Gurung noted. Evening dazzled in the same tones; tailored sportif came in a black hand-embroidered cropped jacket over trousers; high glam in majorly constructed gowns. If these looked a bit retro, they read not a bit camp, and one only need reflect on recent red-carpet sightings to know there’s a market, however rarefied, for such structured curvature. Still, it’s Gurung’s gentler evening looks and fab daywear that will provide his best chance at long-term success.