The Gypsy Look Rejoins the Fashion Caravan From left, Valerio Mezzanotti/NowFashion.com, Regis Colin/Nowfashion.com, Lars Klove for The New York Times From left, designs from Emilio Pucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Altuzarra. WHEN Peter Dundas loosed his flouncy carnival skirts and midriff-baring tops on the Pucci runway in September, the gesture seemed anomalous, chiming though it did with the hippie sensibility that infiltrates fashion each spring. Yet on closer inspection, Mr. Dunda's collection pointed to a Romany inspiration more commonly found on matchbooks and souvenir fans. Absent the kitsch and the emphatically sumptuous - lace panels, cut velvet and tapestry patterns piled layer upon layer - the giddy gypsy influence had unexpected staying power and it is gaining traction in an influential handful of fall collections, with the jangling coin belts and naïve floral prints often associated with nomadic Balkan cultures. Designers transforming their catwalks into caravans included Joseph Altuzarra, who cited the gypsy comic-book hero Corto Maltese as an inspiration for his brocade breeches and shearling toggle coats; Dolce & Gabbana, who merged Sicilian and Romany currents in their fall show; and, more subtly, Mr. Dundas himself, who revisited his nomadic theme in a gown alluding to the Yves Saint Laurent "70s gypsy look. Diverse as they are, those shows are the latest expression of a popular fascination with generic gypsy culture. Gypsies are "definitely a huge influence right now," said Ed Burstell, the managing director of Liberty in London. He might well have referred to the spate of memoirs, including "Gyspy Boy," a coming-of-age tale set in rural Britain and just released in the United States; or pop artists like the New York band Gogol Bordello, which uses accordions and violins in performances. All that is to say nothing of reality television fare like "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding," a smash in England and a hit last year on TLC, expected to begin its second season in June. Mr. Burstell noted that a gypsy trend reflects a revived infatuation with "people who live outside the norm, and is the expression of a viable alternative lifestyle." As fashion, he said, it represents a distinction at a time when major houses need to "recapture their DNA." Angelina Roz, author of Our Gypsy Souls, a blog, ascribes this romance with nomadic cultures to an intensifying hunger for mystery. "Part our allure," said Ms. Roz, whose Roma-inflected rock performances are on YouTube, "is that you don't know where to find us."