NEW YORK � It�s all about dresses for spring for BCBG Max Azria: There was a nary a pair of pants on the collection�s runway Thursday at New York Fashion Week.

But there was enough variety in the silhouettes to make it feel like a comprehensive lineup of clothes for the new season, with styles ranging from a loosely tacked white T-shirt to a mesh, abstract, floral-print bandage gown. (The many bandage-style dresses make you wonder if co-designers Max and Lubov Azria are getting their signals crossed with one of their other brands, Herve Leger, the bandage-happy line that will be shown at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week tents on Sunday.)
Starlets in the front row, including Amanda Bynes and Theodora and Alexandra Richards, nodded approvingly as some of the nightclub-worthy dresses made it down the catwalk.
The Azrias said in their notes to the editors, retailers and stylists at Bryant Park that they were looking for balance �where the unprecious becomes precious.�
There certainly was something artful in the draping and a lightness in the fabrics that evoked both ease and sexiness while not being overly simplistic. A gray jersey dress with handkerchief hem, for example, had subtle quilting on the straps, and a patch of printed fabric on a light taupe asymmetrical dress was reminiscent of python skin.
The designers were aiming for a �carefree spirit that embodies a modern piece of art,� they said.
Suze Yalof Schwartz, executive fashion editor at large for Glamour, zeroed in on outfit No. 6 � a fuschia one-shoulder number with a block of printed fabric. It is perfect for the BCBG customer, she said. �It�s young, it�s sexy, it�s feminine and it�s high fashion without a high-fashion price.�
All the dresses were paired with teetering, leather wrap-up sandals that were toned down and made more sophisticated than the gladiator style popular last summer.