The Rag & Bone men take New York Rag & Bone has once again supplied a refreshed take on the sportily practical, high-design urban womenswear that has become its niche, says Luke Leitch. The standout show of New York Fashion Week's opening days came from two Englishmen abroad - who even managed to throw in a cricket reference that didn't befuddle the locals. Marcus Wainwright and David Neville first met at public school then left London a decade ago to set up their clothing label Rag & Bone in New York. At their latest show, presented on an X-shaped catwalk and attended by fellow English expatriate Anna Wintour, they showed again why that moniker so suits them. For Rag & Bone are masters of artful scavenging, who adroitly salvage surprising references, throw them unpromisingly together and create clothes with serious commercial oomph. IN PICTURES: Rag & Bone spring/summer 2014 For next summer Rag & Bone has dug up cricket-reminiscent jumpers, but presented with a far more deeply plunging V-neckline than the MCC would countenance. These hip-huggers were worn over knee-length soft pink silk slip dresses or baggily tailored leather trousers. Into that mix they inserted a twist of upgraded backpacker chic via suede 'Bangkok pants' that resembled the raw cotton fisherman's trousers gap year travellers of Wainwright and Neville's vintage used to favour under their Red Bull T-shirts. Slightly perplexingly their 'Dustbowl' jacket was a smart, slightly oversized masculine suit jacket that looked more The Great Gatsby than The Grapes of Wrath. There was plenty of fine pleating, apparently based on the loose Samurai Hakama trousers and spaghetti strap tops contrasted with blokishly shoulder-slung slough bags. Sometimes that play wasn't subtle at all: a fitted black sheer mini dress is unambiguously feminine, after all. Mostly, though, Rag & Bone delivered an adroitly refreshed take on the sportily practical, high-design urban womenswear that has become their niche. READ: Dispatches from New York Fashion Week spring/summer 2014 Before London Fashion Week begins next Friday there will be more English designers showing their collections here in New York. Sunday sees Victoria Beckham present the first of two 2014 shows. It might seem a little strange that some of Britain's best-known designers choose New York to show in. But as London has Tom Ford, one of the most successful American designers ever, honours are probably even. All the latest from New York Fashion Week spring/summer 2014