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Oscar de la Renta's Safari Symphony

Oscar de la Renta, like most other designers in New York this week, stayed faithful to his customer's expectations. For Mr. de la Renta, it’s all about elegance and good taste. Polished khaki safari suits with belted waists, sophisticated cable knit sweaters and pencil skirts in a cool ivory and forgiving silk sheaths showed why Oscar is still king of Park Avenue.

Genteel uses of tribal prints and jungle foliage were a nod to one of next spring’s dominant themes, used on everything from straight sheath dresses to tailored jackets and matching full skirts. For evening, he went for bold colors like teal, chartreuse and red and sassy ruffles on cocktail dresses, but tribal printed chiffon gowns were the clear winners.

As if to emphasize his unofficial reign of the Upper East Side’s infamous zip code, 10021, Oscar de la Renta staged his show at a church on Park Ave with the live sounds of the ever-uplifting Polyphonic Spree, a symphonic pop rock choir from Dallas.

Tennis star Roger Federer, who just won the U.S. Open, sat next to Vogue editor (and tennis fan) Anna Wintour. His arrival was greeted with as much enthusiasm from the audience as a pop star might elicit (though, these days, they’re a dime a dozen at fashion week), overshadowing Victoria Beckham and Amanda Peet who also sat front row.

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