NEW YORK, Feb 20, 2002/ FWD/ --- Before his usual entourage of New York writers Fran Lebowitz and Tama Janowitz, and a dark-spectacled Bianca Jagger -- plus the glowing Hollywood couple du jour, Talisa Soto and Benjamin Bratt -- Calvin Klein showed a refined, purist fall 2002 collection that posed as many questions as it answered.

The strongest statements were signature Calvin, done in the designer's finest minimalist form.

Gauzy, narrow wool rollnecks and shawl-neck knit tops in the usual shades of black, asphalt and aubergine were paired with fluid maxi full skirts, some in plain wool, others with tone-on-tone textures and patterns -- by far the collection's winning pieces.

A slim, calf-length black suede dress was a standout, as was a belted four-pocket military jacket over slim black pants -- a look we will undoubtedly see in the fall glossies.

And a black fur-lined leather vest was so outstanding, it caused a visible stir among the show's elite audience.

But much of the rest of the collection was a puzzle of two themes - militaristic and Middle Eastern, both jarringly out of place in a season where designers have wisely chosen to stay away from the zeitgeist.

Translated into Calvin minimalism, even caftans can look modern, as this is a designer with an enormous talent for tailoring.

But the stiff, large, calf-length dresses with ribbon trimmings, high collars, breastplate cuts and flat boots made even the stunning Carolyn Murphy look somewhat barefoot and pregnant.

Coats also ranged from exquisite to unwieldy. Some were fluid, light and loosely belted, with high commercial appeal and just a touch of military poise; while others were cardboard stiff, clunky and army-heavy.

Worst of all were the black fur-lined leather coats, which looked like those worn by the Soviets in the '50s.

What was missing most poignantly in Calvin's collection was the designer's subtle sexiness.

His all-black, all-restraint is usually imbued with youthful rebelliousness and sensuality.

In the final pieces of the show, a whiff of the Calvin we love emerged at last, with a series of elongated evening dresses whose diamond-shaped panels were slit to show the nude skin underneath black satin.

The effect took the panel/patchwork trend, so popular this season, to a new level of elegance.

These were the pieces that a beauty like Talisa Soto could wear at a star-studded premiere.

But the rest of Calvin's monastic collection was so keen on covering the female body in head-to-toe black, that it wouldn't have a prayer in Hollywood.

Calvin Klein Fashion