Business & Finance Club - Fashion : Illusion was one of the key trends to emerge as New York Fashion Week entered its fourth day on Sunday, with sheer looks making a quiet statement.

Strategic use of sheer fabric, here on sleeves, there on a neckline, overlay or skirt, gave the illusion of bareness without revealing too much. The look was naturally sexy, without being vulgar.

The light, airy feel of the clothes went with a generally optimistic feeling that has prevailed at the spring 2011 previews at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

Late Sunday, the crowd headed to a 25th anniversary party for Tommy Hilfiger, one of the splashiest events of the week.

DEREK LAM

Derek Lam defined the quiet chic that has populated many of the runways. The soothing palette in shades of ivory, tan and parchment got boosts from quick contrasts in navy, black and a bit of indigo denim. Silhouettes were lanky and easy. An embroidered poncho worn with a belt looping through the front side only would make a chic daytime dress, and a cashmere silk tank dress-sweater combination in oatmeal was the sort of no-frills look that a woman would reach for again and again.

VICTORIA BECKHAM

Picture this: Victoria Beckham in a white matte gazar gown with sculptural pleated shoulders and a waistband adorned with linked microbeads. The dress was part of the spring collection Beckham offered to a select group of editors, retailers and stylists."I pushed myself with this dress," she said, vowing to wear it to the next big fashion event.The Cadillac-pink shift dress with an asymmetrical, curved neckline is also headed to her personal wardrobe, and the masculine leather weekender that's part of her new handbag collection can be for her husband, David Beckham.Beckham takes the unusual step of personally narrating her show, and is now treated by the industry as a celebrated designer, not a celebrity.The theme of her spring dresses was a celebration of curves, she said, taking out some of the corsetry that she previously built silhouettes on, replacing that with oval panels that she said would give the same flattering shape with more comfort.

THAKOON

Planning on wearing Thakoon for spring? Start your crunches now.The designer Thakoon Panichgul took the sheer look and ran with it for a collection that had a boudoir feel, with loose pyjama stripes, bra tops and sheer lingerie-like dresses. At times the runway seemed more suited to Victoria's Secret than the front-row crowd that included former White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers.Panichgul won name recognition for dressing first lady Michelle Obama on many occasions, but in nothing quite so daring.To be sure, there were some beautiful clothes that could travel outside the bedroom — a pyjama stripe silk layered vest with white cotton twill pants had a loose and pretty feel. Starlets might consider the cobalt metallic python dress — it would be a good choice for Kerry Washington, another front row guest.

PRABAL GURUNG

Gurung is showing the growth and maturity of a designer who wants to stick around. And the industry seems ready to support this Singapore-born, Nepal-raised young man for the long haul. Top-name retailers, editors and stylists, including Rachel Zoe and Ikram Goldman — known to work with first lady Michelle Obama — gave him hearty applause.Gurung took a bit of a risk on his third-ever runway, starting with colourblocked cashmere knits. It was a statement worth making: Gurung wants to dress real women — women of style, mind you, but not those obsessed with trends.Styles included a slim-fitting white scuba sheath with blue satin inserts, or an ivory silk crepe version with asymmetrical tulle inserts. The sand-washed silk duchesse trench and its curved insets were the right modern twist for a venerable class.

CATHERINE MALANDRINO

Catherine Malandrino took a trip to an artists' village in the south of her native France with crackled leathered bolero jackets, flowing gowns in breezy jersey and wide-legged trousers in terra-cotta, olive and clay.

She was true to her free-spirited roots as her models stood as statuary on pylons in a Lincoln Center courtyard.

Black macrame gladiator sandals to the thigh were paired with slash tops and teeny knit bottoms. A long dress worthy of the beach was hand-crocheted in ivory with open ovals from the chest to the bellybutton.

Malandrino's palette paid homage to ceramics maker Roger Capron and the southern French village of Vallauris.

CYNTHIA ROWLEY

In the rarified world of Lincoln Center, perhaps it's the equivalent of borrowing a cup of sugar: Designer Cynthia Rowley asked the new neighbors at the New York City Ballet if she could borrow its backdrops for her show.

The ballet company obliged, so Rowley's lovely, polished clothes were presented with sets of "Swan Lake" and "Romeo and Juliet" standing tall behind the models.

The swing toward sophisticated styles is part of the evolution of fashion, Rowley said in an interview later Saturday.

The first look out was an otherwise simple taupe dress, but cutout dots like a Connect Four unit made it new and interesting. The same goes for all the transparent panels on sweaters and polos, and the colored pebblelike embellishment on shirts, shorts and a cocktail party-ready shift dress.