Welcome to camp Posen. It’s an out-there, fantastical place where Joan Crawford and Eliza Doolittle exchange froth recipes and parade about in their big-shouldered, bustled-up best. And where, by the way, the designer knows a fine way to treat a Steinway, or five, as he recruited the sibling phenomenon the 5 Browns to perform during the show.

 

Posen’s runway is always an extravaganza of girly glam, as over-the-top as New York fashion gets. His approach makes for lots of fun, if not always a lot of sense. This season, moments of pretty sanity tempered the mayhem, some of it approaching chic. Among the hits: coats, including a silvery metallic jacquard and a romantic, big-collared number in gray felt. Posen also showed a restrained wool sheath and an appealing tailored jacket or two.

 

But Posen’s heart just isn’t with the 9-to-5 set. He’s a social guy whose primary interest is in designing for social girls with a theatrical bent. True, though a few frocks were relatively low-key — a violet silk charmer with a posy at the neck; a flirty micro-floral tied at the waist — many more flaunted the demonstrative gestures for which he’s known, gowns with sweeping trains, significantly endowed shoulders and big splashes of fanciful floral sequins. They made for entertaining viewing, and if a few too many won’t cross the threshold to reality, there was some legitimately strong, polished eveningwear among the showpieces.