Nanette Lepore brings the sunshine inside at New York Fashion Week

NEW YORK, N.Y. – In a season full of colour, Nanette Lepore’s runway was one of the brightest of them all.

Each look Wednesday at the Lincoln Center tests was a more cheerful shade of tangerine, yellow or pink than the one before it. As she moved toward the finale, she mixed them all together in stripes.

All this was set to live music: Sam Bisbee and his five-piece band provided a nice change to the usual thumping runway music during the last seven days of spring previews for fashion editors, stylists and retailers.

Lepore wisely kept the rest of the silhouette crisp and clean, so there wasn’t too much going on. She favoured full skirts and shorts, although there was a series of scuba-inspired, slim-fit dresses, or for a twist, there was a scuba top paired with a very feminine, more forgiving lilac-net skirt that had an orange underlayer peeking through.

She also hit on the popular athletic theme with a tangerine, sequin-covered baseball jacket.

The splash floral print looked best on a tie-front swimsuit, but there was a lovely version on a tie-front dress, too, using a softer, more delicate fabric.

The looks were youthful, especially the cropped tops, but the skirt suits and trousers, along with some of the more polished halter-neck dresses, might appeal to anyone with an optimistic attitude.