For Oscar de la Renta Pre-Fall 2014 collection, the inspiration points were just as varied: some shapes borrowed from Japanese fashion; vivid colors from Zurbarán, the great Spanish Golden Age painter.

The collection featured bright, bold tailoring—a royal purple skirtsuit with a double-faced cashmere/angora bomber jacket, or an elongated gilet over matching forest green trousers—was snappy. But if you’re not a woman for color, there were plenty of graphic options in classic black and white, in guipure lace and mélange tweed. For the rara avis: more-is-more multicolored gowns in silk taffeta and silk faille, the most photographed of which tied at the back, like a Christmas present, with an enormous bow. And for the femme fatale: an embroidered lamé gown, wrapped as tight around the bust as a bath towel.