Good vibrations, as the soundtrack heralded again and again? Absolutely. Michael Kors is New York’s most upbeat designer, and if the spring collection he showed on Wednesday felt a bit familiar, part of that was its typical ebullience. Kors worked an American sportif theme packed aplenty with practical charm. The clothes were about visual clarity, devoid of decoration save for demonstrative graphics, from straight-forward lines on dresses to a maillot gone mad with multiple clashing dots and stripes. Water sports provided inspiration for the sleekest looks, such as a sheath with wet suit colorblocking. Conversely, when Kors left the surf for a brief run, he ran far; his crinkled, baggy warm-up numbers sprinted toward the land of Yohji.

Kors offered respite from all the athletics in appealing dresses — madras sheath; tie-front polkadot; midriff silk secured in front with a white disk — and separates as unfettered as a red-faced navy topper over sweater and trim khakis. Though such looks would have been more than enough to keep things from growing tiresome, he apparently didn’t think so. Thus, he incorporated some ladified dresses and stiff coats that brought a discordant twinge of retro kitsch to an otherwise strong outing.