Concerning the issues of increasing demands and the accelerated pace of fashion today, the kind that has seen designers bailing their posts left and right, Robert Geller may have a solution. He based his Fall men’s collection on The Grey Gentlemen, a children’s book he read growing up in Germany. Not quite of the Grimm Brothers variety, though pretty grim nonetheless, it’s the story of mysterious men in gray suits, and with unnaturally gray skin, who come to town and literally steal time from the locals, sucking them of life and color. Not only is their time stolen, Geller stressed before the show, “but their creativity, too.”

The cautionary tale has a happy ending, but back to those suits, which Geller interpreted as a series of streamlined coats, noirish capes, leather jackets, and pencil pants, worn by models with a pallor emphasized by color-draining lighting that the designer brought in. His men were heavily accessorized with the trappings of swindled success: urbane derby hats, leather half-gloves, dark blue shiny boots (in collaboration with Common Projects), and studded briefcases (made with Adachishiki, a Japanese purveyor of industrial products). But it was a zipper-trimmed black trench and a hooded parka that stole this section of the show.

In sync with the book, Geller then deftly moved his color story into neutral ecru shades, followed by an unabashed plunge into deep purple, bordeaux, and mustard. Shapes, too, loosened up, while jaunty embroideries and decadent fabrics were introduced, mainly velvet, satin, and light-as-air cupro cotton that Geller couldn’t stop petting backstage. This is his element. Creativity restored.