Tess Giberson's a New York City girl at heart, but there was something rather West Coast about her presentation for Spring 2014. Not West Coast in a beach-babes, "surf's up" manner, but rather a forward-thinking, clean-living kind of way. Yes, that eco-conscious sensibility that factors so centrally in the Northern Californian lifestyle was evoked by Giberson's paired-down lines and airy details. The former was evident in her deliberately simplified dress shapes--detailed with perforated panels—-while the latter won raves in the form of knit-stitches featuring a lattice of coin-sized holes.

In keeping with those aesthetic lanes, her palette began with a deliberately sterilized base of whites, doves, and graphic black, punctuated by a bold leaf green.

Print and pattern-wise, updated preppy notes-—a techno madras slip dress and bold black and white rugby tunic— lent unexpected tone to the assortment, while the brand's signature crocheted textures were realized as a mesmerizing cheese-cloth check.

These controlled complexities were the icing on the cake. Giberson's strong suit is her way with simple shapes, and the collection's slip dresses (a break-out trend this season) felt at once-of-the-moment and timelessly Tess.

Photos: IMAXtree