In pictures: The best of New York Fashion Week

Fresh off her third straight US Open win, Serena Williams took on New York Fashion Week with her first runway show, as a celebrity crowd that included the Vogue editor Anna Wintour watched from the front row. The tennis champ said she was working on the collection, a mix of casual and dress clothes for the shopping network HSN, even while she was mowing down competitors at the US Open — casting models and choosing their looks. She was inspired by couture shows such as Dior, but with a toned down vibe, she said. She captured the title by defeating her good friend Caroline Wozniacki, who showed up at the show to support Williams. Bebeto Matthews / AP photo

There were sequins, there were fringes, and there were, of course, purses. Tory Burch’s spring collection was an eclectic mix of bold patterns and looks that could morph from a day wedding to a cocktail party to the red carpet. Among the key looks: A shirt minidress with colour blocks of red, black, blue and orange; cream trousers with dark tree prints with a dark-blue solid waist stripe; black-and-white patterned cotton shorts with a fringe; an ankle-long taupe dress accented by metallic designs; and trousers with blue, black and cream vertical stripes and tuxedo-like black stripes running down the side. The fabrics were varied too, from knits and cottons to canvas and linens. Joshua Lott / AFP

A king of bejewelled red carpet dressing, Naeem Khan mixed his signature sparkle with gowns of sporty stripes on Tuesday. Khan rolled out the dazzle in silver, gold and a starburst of white in a beaded cocktail dress. There were shiny satins in kelly green and sunny yellow in several styles. For that Hollywood moment when only mega-watt gold will do, Khan provided a fully sequinned, body-skimming gown, flared at the bottom with an open back. Peter Foley / EPA

In this image released by Starpix, the model Naomi Campbell, centre poses with designers James Mischka, left, and Mark Badgley to celebrate their 25th Anniversary after the Badgley Mischka Spring 2015 collection was shown. “We are happy in general with New York so far, but it’s not over yet, we are still doing counts. We’ve got three, four other countries to go, so we always do the count at the end,” said Campbell on the diversity of women featured on the runways. The supermodel was an outspoken critic on the lack of women of colour on the runway in past seasons. Marion Curtis / AP Photo / Starpix

The Rag & Bone girl of spring just rolled out of bed after a long night. “There’s quite a lot of skin,” acknowledged David Neville, half the brand’s design duo with Marcus Wainwright. In a warehouse space at a long-closed post office on Monday night, the two shifted gears a bit from seasons past. They pared down looks for a sexier feel in customer-friendly colours that included light indigo, creams and white. The menswear and work wear influences were apparent, “but at the same time it’s all very feminine,” Neville said. Jason DeCrow / AP Photo

Walking into a Thom Browne fashion show often feels like walking onto the set of a Tim Burton movie, with the most fabulous and chic costumes imaginable. And the designer didn’t disappoint when he presented his spring 2015 collection in a runway show that felt more like a fashion designer’s dream version of Alice in Wonderland. The soundtrack was actually a bedtime story for the audience, read by a familiar voice that Browne identified in a post-show interview as Diane Keaton, a fan of his clothes. “Good evening, everyone,” she began, promising “a short story, a simple story, a timeless story”. The models brought life to the tale, appearing in wondrous combinations of fabric and colour. Much more than his spookier February show, for which Browne created a church and dressed his models like strangely robotic nuns, these clothes, many of them suits, were outfits you’d want to pluck off the runway and wear to a party. Browne said Keaton was the perfect person to read the story he had created. “She is SO my girl,” he said. John Minchillo / AP Photo

Nicki Minaj at NYFW. “He doesn’t necessarily have a crazy style, but it’s his own thing and he kind of coins his own sort of image and I love it,” Minaj said of Alexander Wang, who answered with the word “Sneakers!” when asked, in backstage interview after his runway show on Saturday, what his overarching design theme had been. Wang is always a big Fashion Week draw, and this show, in a huge pier by the Hudson River, was no exception — the designer had Rihanna, Minaj and the former model Lauren Hutton all sitting together in the front row. Amy Sussman / Invision / AP

A look at the events, personalities and designs that stood out at this year’s New York Fashion Week, which ended on September 11, 2014.