NEW YORK, Feb 23, 2003/ FWD/ --- Benjamin Cho continues to achieve a low-key, no-frills feel at his runway outings: Last Feb 14, the 25-year-old New York-based designer had longtime fan Claire Danes front row, where she was free to chat with her friends and take swigs from a passed bottle of red wine, not a flashbulb in sight.

As Leo Fitzpatrick spun the mood music, buyers, editors and a bevy of the designer's downtown pals poured into Exit Art, a concrete-floored, cavernous non-profit art space on Tenth Avenue, to check out Cho's latest.

For fall 2003 Cho has traded his trademark ribbon lacing for thin leather strips. A ruched white top appeared simply striped from afar, but was in fact banded by buckled black leather straps. Black pants were held up by a version of a black leather garter belt, and suspenders with a built-in bra sustained a flouncy knee-length skirt. Legwarmers were paired with several looks, and the opener included a puff-sleeved version for the arms.

Several pieces were much more wearable that Cho's usual fare, like a long cream cable-knit cardigan (though vamped up with thigh-high black boots) or a classically tailored black belted trench. Deep cowl necks were the only 3-D effects on a black simple dress and one-piece pantsuit.

The more formal offerings were a series of body-hugging strapless dresses, both mini and mid-calf, whose bodices extended up into sculptured curves. Not the most originally conceived, but flawlessly executed, particularly a double-sided black and white version. The last one tapped into Cho's love affair with texture once again, deftly lacing a blue scarf into the simply cut white dress.

The assembled would have likely welcomed a bit more from Cho (even with only 16 looks there was a fair amount of repetition), but at least the succinct show was a relief to all those running late for the Zac Posen presentation -- among them Danes, who threw a khaki hooded army jacket over her springy pastel green Posen frock and darted out the door.

Benjamin Cho

Benjamin Cho

Benjamin Cho