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As the live band “Wild Cub” stepped onto the runway preparing to accompany the show, the audience was suffocating in anticipation. Once the band was playing fun and upbeat tunes, the eyes were quickly zoomed in on the first of a white leather jacket with dark green, almost black, striped shorts.

In fact, it was all leather. Leather leather leather. That was the understood statement in Rebecca Minkoff’s autumn collection. The black architectural leather dress, quilted leather mini skirt and the oversized leather trenches forced the ladies to look tough and hard. The few of the leather-less looks reflected the urban, futuristic feel of a spacesuit.

At the same time the wide and huge collars, whether it was fur on a jacket or sheer chiffon on a blouse, contributed the ladylike personality of Rebecca Minkoff’s collection. While popped up, the collars provided a powerful masculine strength; when they were neatly folded down, there was a sense of radiating femininity.

The color palette included army green, deep shimmery blue, and sparse pops of red and yellow. The random appearances of pinkish violet and bright burgundy plaid added another spirit of a trendy, youthful girl.

The audience, which included Eva Chen and Ashlee Simpson, fell in love with the sassy and unique cutout ankle boots that laced up and were perfectly girly. The chunky bracelets, rectangular rings, and weighty necklaces all added to the conversation of the “boyish girl” concept.

Minkoff calls it the “modern girl’s manifesto: she’s forward thinking but doesn’t lose sight of the past. She wears her clothes with edge, but not without elegance. She pushes the envelope while maintaining her polish. She’s the perfect paradox.”

Michelle Lim is beauty & style editor. Email her at [email protected].