A nouveau bias for soft and romantic Models in Zac Posen designs at his New York Fashion Week show on Sunday. 'I particularly love periods of time when women took centre stage,' Posen says. ZAC Posen's show at New York Fashion Week was one of the highlights of day four, a deeply romantic offering from the 33-year-old American designer, beginning with influences from art nouveau through to the 1950s. In particular, a smattering of 30s silhouettes was a standout, of which Posen said after the show: "We wanted to return to our bias silhouettes; it's soft, romantic. We started looking at art nouveau posters of Sarah Bernhardt and the colouration of them, and then it was sort of an impressionist painting colour palette, very sculptural (shapes) balanced with very soft. Posen also referred to his time-travelling influences. "I like the 30s and 40s, I like all periods of time, but I do particularly love periods of time when women took centre stage," he said. A posse of Posen's A-list fans, including Kelly Osbourne and Christina Hendricks, who often wears his designs on the red carpet, were at Sunday's show. The colour palette was soft, with shades of apricot, peach, mint and lilac, many with delicate hand-painted or embroidered floral motifs, including wisteria. His pieces ranged from form-fitting anatomical construction in panels to accentuate the curves of the body, to other curves in oversized ruffles that undulated around the body, often in huge layers that could have swamped the wearer in less adept hands. Draped silk plisse dresses and gowns are likely to be seen on a red carpet in the near future; on Osbourne or Hendricks, perhaps? Posen is one of a handful of international designers to have done a collaboration with Target Australia, in 2008, when he visited to Sydney. He said he hadn't "had the opportunity yet to go back, but I hope to.