PARIS, October 5, 2005 – Over the course of four years in business, Andrew Gn has built himself a coterie of Upper East Side fans who keep his rich-looking coats, with their demi-couture details, flying out of Bergdorf and Bendel. Given the new direction evident in his spring collection, though, it looks like Gn has the potential to make the leap downtown—embracing the girls who are bar-hopping at the Stanton Social, as well as those who are lunching at Le Bilboquet.

This season, the designer's signature coats came in black and white gabardine and crepe, sumptuously embellished with waistbands of glass beads or lace edging, while sportier versions were cut in silk toile and decorated with bohemian (by Gn's standards, at least) wooden beads. Since this is spring, he also showed off-the-shoulder smocked tops in cotton piqué or floral-print silk. For evening, patchworks of those floral prints fell in tiers to the floor, in keeping with one of the season's big trends—although the same silhouette looked more modern in a striking emerald-green chiffon.

Which brings us to the point. Gn's sexy new shoes, which made their runway debut, are proof that he has what it takes to connect with a younger generation. Now all he needs is to lose the prim styling—and lengthen his too-short skirts to the knee—and he'll be as popular below 14th Street as he is on Park Avenue. – Nicole Phelps  http://www.style.com/fashionshows/collections/S2006RTW/review/AGN