Lady Gaga walked the runway for American design legend Marc Jacobs in a triumphant finale to New York Fashion Week following collections from Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein.

Jacobs, the darling of the US fashion scene, prides himself on closing out the twice yearly Big Apple fashion bonanza by putting on extravagant spectaculars -- and Thursday was no exception.

A black velvet cocktail dress was made similarly exquisite -- embellished with tightly pleated black leather ruffle sleeves and a collar that defied gravity and made the outfit look like sculpture.

Lauren broke new ground by finishing the show with a mikado evening dress, its billowing skirts in his trademark style, but giving off the overall effect of liquid, glistening gold.

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It was Lauren's first collection since stepping down last November as chief executive of his global empire, although the self-made billionaire remains chief creative officer.

- Animal magic -

Francisco Costa, the Brazilian creative director at Calvin Klein, used a sun-drenched Tribeca loft to showcase New York cool -- the look that defines the label and pioneers contemporary, urban fashion.

"It's the night before the morning after," Costa told AFP backstage, summing up the theme of the collection. It marked a return to tailored suiting for the brand, as well as novel use of fur for Calvin Klein.

Costa said he took brand innovation even further by "pushing it into crazy, very fun prints as well, which is all photographic, is all very new to us."

Added to the ubiquitous black were checks in white, blue and black with a smattering of dusty pink.

Sharp suits were worn with low-cut V-neck slip blouses in silk and he followed a trend also seen on the catwalk at Vera Wang and Alexander Wang by using buckle and strap accessories.

There were large fur collars, another key trend of the season, and leather panels cut into skirts to create movement.

Plaids were mixed and matched -- with different check patterns used on the two sleeves of a dress, a third plaid on the front and yet another on the back. Fur coats were chunky with textured panels.

In a slight break with the usual Calvin Klein look, Costa incorporated oversized tribal-style pendant necklaces and sewed large jewels onto the front of silk dresses. The models wore sensible loafers.

There was also animal print in white and yellow, a tiger effect, as well as a leopard or dalmatian print style dress paired with a coat in a larger black and white animal print.