Seeing the Donna Karan collection for fall without hearing her explanation of what it is will leave anyone a little bewildered. Giant cocoon coats? Sculpted jackets and skirts that don’t come close to touching the wearer’s body? What’s happened to the body-conscious, layered Donna we’ve always loved?

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It seems she’s gone undercover, but she’s still in there. In her show notes, Karan talks of building a foundation with body skimming bodysuits on top and “air-constructed on bottom.” The Donna Karan woman has grown an eccentric side that is entranced with architecture and construction, which mean bigger, power-suggesting get-ups.

Jackets, coats, cardigans, skirts — they all had this volume. And in the case of dresses, they were voluminous through the hips, which is not usually an area women are happy to make look bigger.

We applaud her artistry and embracing of change, and we even like some of the pieces, but overall, we’re a little stymied and suspect her customer may be too. What was she saying with her models’ hair and make-up? The stark, severe look made them into modern day, sad Pierrots.

Though they were in the front row, we can’t really see Demi or Brooke Shields breaking out any of these sculpted cocoons. Instead, we definitely see them in the drape-y long, lean dresses — a Donna signature (or have we seen them in this dress already?).