NEW YORK — The fall-winter 2011 runway show season, with all of its attendant hype, hope and surprises, kicked off last week in New York. Some of the most anticipated collections are coming from Los Angeles designer Barbara Tfank (a new line of denim produced in collaboration with L.A. denim guru Henry Duarte), Olivier Theyskens (for Theory) and the Libertine label.

Scott Sternberg, the CAA agent-turned-designer, is showing his men’s and women’s Band of Outsiders collection on the runway for the first time (instead of at a presentation). Derek Lam is showing a dress collection for eBay — live and at dereklam.ebay.com. And don’t forget about Tom Ford. He isn’t having a runway show this season — or ever again, if you believe him when he says he no longer wants to be part of the fashion machine. But reports say the 100-person, super-secret show he had in September is resonating with other designers who will be having quieter, more intimate shows. What — no look-at-me bloggers and TV tartlets in the front row? We’ll believe it when we see it. What follows are reports on some of the first shows — for women and men — of the New York season.

BCBG

The bodysuit made famous by Donna Karan made a comeback on the runway in the strong fall-winter 2011 BCBG collection, where sheer white turtleneck versions were layered under long crepe dresses with pleated or paneled details.

Earth tones were broken up with flashes of the “emberglow” orange that Pantone has named as one of the top 10 colors for this round of shows.

Obviously, the Los Angeles-based contemporary label designed by Max Azria caught the 1970s fever we saw on the runways for spring. The long looks were grounded with hard clutches and great-looking high boots with chunky heels.

But will women really go long? Not one of Azria’s front-row fans (Kelly Rowland, Taraji Henson, Ashanti) was wearing anything below mid-thigh.

“Sometimes, it’s more sexy to wear long,” the designer said backstage. “And some women have problems with their legs.”

Not these ladies, Max.

Vena Cava

With a ’zine at every seat, and remixed grunge on the soundtrack, Vena Cava designers Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock were saying “Viva the 1990s” with their fall 2011 collection.

The ’zine waxed nostalgic for Contempo Casuals, Judy’s, Andre Agassi’s mullet, pagers, Filofaxes and Kriss Kross.

And you could see the references to Contempo, Betsey Johnson, Donna Karan and others on the runway, in the black-and-white polka-dot palazzo pants, square-neck jersey tube dress, off-the-shoulder tops and leather jackets with supersized sleeves (which had the look of flea market finds).

No doubt, the twentysomething designers, who are native Angelenos, were reminiscing about their formative fashion years with this collection. But though it had a heavy dose of vintage cool, it didn’t have many clothes that flattered even the pin-thin models. (The stringy hair didn’t help.)

In the end, this collection felt more like a styling exercise than a designing one.

Mara Hoffman and Tadashi Shoji

Where designers Mara Hoffman and Tadashi Shoji are concerned, fall is all about spiritual transcendence, 1970s-style.

Oh well, Jerry Brown is back in the governor’s office. And the New Age, funk-soul side of the Me Decade is one we didn’t see too much of last season in the spring shows.

But to have an indie designer (Hoffman) and a department store dress stalwart (Shoji) channeling the same cosmic wavelengths, well, there must be something in the air.

For Shoji, it was spirituality in a Far East, Zen kind of way. “The art of birds dancing … branches intertwining … light reflecting in water,” his show notes stated. How that translated into formalwear was at times head-scratching.

There was a certain liquidity to softly draped, silk crepe one-shoulder dresses in shades of “eclipse,” “sunglow” and “horizon.” And the hand-cut silk organza petals on cocktail shifts had a rough elegance to them. Shoji finished with a pair of draped gowns — one with a single sleeve, another with a pleated floor-length skirt.

His less-is-more looks were the most successful. And they made a strong statement for a new ease in dressing up, even if they did borrow a bit from last season’s Lanvin collection.

For Hoffman, the theme was sacred warrior-meets-Earth mother, with hooded caftans in tribal prints, macrame detailed gowns worn with turbans and talisman-like jewelry by All for the Mountain.

It was a good look, especially for California. Guess it’s time to dig out the yin-yang symbol necklace again and plan a trip to Big Sur.

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