Jason Wu displays greater surety and sophistication with each collection. For spring, his nascent career took another leap forward via a terrific lineup that the designer said was influenced by the artist Tara Donovan (one could see her influence in the prints and textures) with a nod or two to Tim Burton. In reality, however, the clothes were an expression of Wu’s pretty, polished message rendered here with a hint of the Forties in shirtwaists, snappy tap shorts and platform shoes that made for a spirited insouciance while staying clear of kitsch calendar-girl wear.

Savvy, indeed, as cool girls and chic women alike will fancy the sculptural staple-print dresses and color-flecked tweed suits, the jacket cut like a sweatshirt or the skirt fabric inside out as, like many designers in New York these days, Wu grapples with how to reconcile our increasingly casual lifestyle with the notion of dressing up. Ditto for evening: Wu made the pouf approachable, the curvy cocktail frock au courant and — something rare in ready-to-wear, especially on this side of the Atlantic — frothed up with feathered fare that looked delightful rather than frightful.