NEW YORK – If you want to look fashionable next fall, follow the flock.

Feathers were a surprising trend by Tuesday at New York Fashion Week, showing up on coats, dresses and hats. In tough economic times, perhaps feathers seem a little less showy than fur.

It’s only the most literal bird influence, though. Look for colors next fall called goldfinch, cardinal and peacock, and some ornithology-inspired prints from Carolina Herrera.

Fashionably feathered models walked the runway Tuesday at Badgley Mishka, Monique Lhuillier and J. Mendel, and earlier in the week at Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta and Proenza Schouler.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week runs through Feb. 8, with shows still to come from some of the standard-bearers of American style, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and Calvin Klein among them.

BADGLEY MISCHKA

Badgley Mischka offered a complete fall collection – from furs to cashmere T-shirts. But all eyes were on the gowns.

“There’s no question that Badgley Mischka customer goes for the gorgeous beaded eveningwear,” said Suze Yalof Schwartz, Glamour magazine’s fashion editor at large. She wouldn’t be surprised to see her favorite look, an amethyst-colored wrap gown with hand-painted petals of navy, dark purple and burgundy, on the Oscar red carpet later this month.

Another Oscar contender was an off-the-shoulder fuchsia organza gown with horizontal tucks on the bodice and vertical ones on the bottom.

The design duo also brought elements of their signature eveningwear to their daytime clothes, including using taffeta and lurex fabrics. There was also a hint of the 1970s in some of the more casual styles, and a peek at another emerging trend for next season: the over-the-knee boot, especially in suede.

MONIQUE LHUILLIER

A flapper, one with a smoldering, smoky look, served as the inspiration for Monique Lhuillier’s fall collection. The clothes she wore this time around weren’t an exact copy of the styles of the 1920s but they had the right spirit: fun and sexy. The daytime looks on the runway were also luxe, thanks to fur trim and metallic fabrics.

Art Deco influences were evident in mirrored beads, and feathers had a strong presence here, as did other fall trends: ramped-up outerwear, the colors of mustard and teal, and one-shoulder and strapless dresses.

Stylist Mary Alice Stephenson picked a black-and-gray ombre strapless gown with an asymmetrical gathered skirt and jeweled belt as her favorite look. During the show, she leaned toward her friend, the actress Kim Raver, and said, “That would look great on you.”

Stephenson said after the show that as Lhuillier continues to develop, she has the potential be the next generation’s Oscar de la Renta or Carolina Herrera. “For her to understand embellishment and glamour on the red carpet is one thing – she has that down. But now she’s incorporating it into daywear,” Stephenson observed.

THAKOON

There was a military edge to many of the outfits in Thakoon’s fall-collection fashion show.

The looks presented Monday at a dim industrial space on Manhattan’s far west side had a grittiness to them that seemed to be new territory for Thakoon Panichgul, who first launched his label in 2004. Colors were somber and serious, even on a floral print.

However, that floral print – mostly mustard with splashes of a dusty pink – made for some of the best outfits, including a quilted coat and a fitted sheath with exposed seams.

Panichgul tapped into tweeds, as have many other designers here, but these aren’t your grandmother’s tweeds. They are edgy: the fabric isn’t highly refined, the pattern not always perfect and the shapes of the garments aren’t restrictive.