Tommy Hilfiger closed out not only the New York week but also an era in the tents at Bryant Park, a site that has seen him through a couple of incarnations. This Fall collection showed his latest evolution: the first time designer Peter Som is consulting on the line. Som's involvement is surrounded by a bit of intrigue. On the one hand, he wasn't out front and available for interviews; but on the other, the company isn't hiding the news, and they presumably must have a reason for making public a tidbit of information that could easily be kept under wraps or at least readily denied. Whatever the case, this was one of Hilfiger's liveliest and strongest offerings in a few seasons.

Named Preppy With a Pop, the collection channeled a girl the show notes described as a young Katharine Hepburn, someone combining an East Coast pedigree with a touch of sass. It takes sass to wear your camel shawl-collared cardie over a skirt made of gray leather paillettes, or to pull on a pair of OTK duck boots. The collection ably ticked off Hilfiger's checklist of classics (the peacoat, the trench, the pencil skirt), but now they had a youthful little twist. Something entirely new? No, but a welcome and necessary refresh.

As Hilfiger explained before the show, the future of this partnership is uncertain. We'll take the present for now.