In Men's Wear, an Emphasis on the Preppy Look Perists It's about time New York Fashion Week began to pay better attention to its men's wear designers. After all, since the direction for guys has been toward preppy Americana and a big hurrah for heritage for almost a decade, shouldn't New York designers own that look by now? At times this week, it seemed as if there were more people trying to get into the men's shows than there were in the entire men's wear industry, which is probably a good sign for the business. When people are waiting in a long line to see a show by Antonio Azzuolo, who is not exactly a household name, the men's scene may have reached critical mass. But Mr. Azzuolo, a former design director from Ralph Lauren who started his own label four years ago, specializing in tailoring, had one of the standout collections of the season. It's hard to stand out with straight-up suits, so he showed new versions with a street-wear twist, pairing a plaid cotton suit with sneakers, or showing faded chinos with several inches of white boxer shorts sticking out. The real surprise of a white blazer with all-over red floral embroidery was that it looked more punk in attitude than feminine. Another highlight of the week was the charming geekiness of the clothes at Carlos Campos. His short-sleeve shirts, lightweight peacoats and slim trousers came in saturated colors like brilliant blue and marigold, some of them also embroidered with little white stars. The point is: a lot of mileage remains in the preppy look, in all its forms. There is the traditional version, the kind you find at Tommy Hilfiger, who made suits out of materials normally used on rep ties. Or the smart-alecky version by Mark McNairy, New York's longest-running new designer, who returned to the runway with camo shorts and a seersucker suit embroidered with daisies, and models who smirked because they knew they looked so cool. Or the aspiring-to-be-sexually-objectified version of Michael Bastian, who paid tribute to Donna Summer in a sharp show with a concert T-shirt worn with a barely there swim brief. The independent thinkers have their own takes, like Patrik Ervell, who showed a marine-blue bomber jacket with geeky sandals that resembled Tevas; and Alexandre Plokhov, whose monochromatic concept of all-black, all-white or all-gray outfits extended to the models" hair and eyebrows, which were painted to match the monastic clothes. And for a completely different perspective on a vital element of Americana fashion, the Duckie Brown designers Steven Cox and Daniel Silver took on denim this season. Of course, their versions included a backless jeans jacket and wide-leg trousers with cuffs deeper than the sea.