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Zac Posen looks to Jane Birkin, Mary Tyler Moore and ‘Rhoda’ for Brooks Brothers debut

Looks from Brooks Brothers' spring and summer 2016 womens wear collection, presented Saturday during New York Fashion Week. It marks the first women's collection under the creative direction of designer Zac Posen.

Looks from Brooks Brothers’ spring and summer 2016 womens wear collection, presented Saturday during New York Fashion Week. It marks the first women’s collection under the creative direction of designer Zac Posen.

(Eugene Gologursky / Getty Images )
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Brooks Brothers, the venerable American clothing brand, is getting a makeover this spring by none other than Zac Posen, “Project Runway” judge and red carpet fave, who has dressed a constellation of stars including Glenn Close, Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts and Beyonce.

Posen showed his debut collection as the new creative director of ‎womens wear for the nearly 200-year-old brand at New York Fashion Week on Saturday afternoon, sharing that 1970s-era Jane Birkin, Mary Tyler Moore and “Rhoda” were among the inspirations for his updated vision of preppy professional and country club casual wear.

“It was an incredible opportunity to work for an American heritage brand … and for me to do sportswear,” said Posen, known for lavish, hyper-feminine gowns in his namesake collection, which he began showing at New York Fashion Week in 2001, before he was old enough to drink. “When you develop a brand so young, you kind of become that brand. But to be able to reinterpret the classics and have the highest level of manufacturing, that’s possible here and it’s exciting.”

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FULL COVERAGE: New York Fashion Week 2015

At Brooks Brothers, he introduced shirt dresses, palazzo pants and tunic tops in garden floral prints, and smart-looking suits with boxy, cropped ‎jackets over A-line minis or flared trousers, much of it in variations on the tried-and-true, red, white and blue.‎ “I think I have a pretty approachable presidential red suit,” Posen offered. “There’s a blue one too.”

My favorite look was an elongated jacket fastened with Chinese knots, worn over culottes. Very Auntie Mame.

“The women’s business here began in the 1970s when women started buying the men’s clothing,” said the designer, whose first Brooks Brothers purchase was an oversized pajama top he wore when he was a kid.

After Posen shows his own collection here Monday, he heads to L.A., where he’s likely to be dressing at least one if not more ladies for the Emmys red carpet. Stay tuned Sept. 20 to find out.

For the latest tweets from the seats, follow me @Booth.

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