With more new designers showing at NY Fashion Week – from schooled, industry-seasoned types to certified celebrities like Chloe Sevigny, whose collaboration with Opening Ceremony debuts this week – it’s hard to settle on one particular star. So, we've honed it down to four designers who have been around a few seasons, and come out with both a clear vision and glowing reviews. Here, our favorites from the new breed of innovative, impeccably constructed and styled collections that will appear on the runway this Fashion Week:

Obedient Sons
Men’s line Obedient Sons launched in the San Francisco/Oakland area in 2001. But, it wasn't until designer Swain Hutson gained a fan in Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt that things really took off. After discovering the line at a shop in LA, Dirnt began wearing the designs onstage. Then, after contacting Hutson in order to buy directly from the designer, the two became friends, and before long Dirnt became a partner in the label. With collections that aspire to represent the ambition of youth, and the power of new ideas, it was only a matter of time before other rock stars, including Beck, Wilco and Coldplay, followed suit. Hutson, a native of North Carolina, spent many years behind the scenes, managing production for various leaders in menswear before, in 2003, moving to New York and starting Obedient Sons. Since then the line has been featured in T magazine, Esquire, Tokion, and Rolling Stone, to name a few. For fall 2007 Hutson explored the world of formalwear, with a collection called Black Mountain - plaid shirts and matching cummerbunds under shrunken tuxedo coats, grey wool tuxedo jackets with satin lapels, and satin-trimmed pocket slits. "I understand the black-tie approach, but the slightest detail can pop and make sense. Formalwear can be whatever you want it to be. I'm not one to stick to tradition," says Hutson. True to form, this season also sees the launch of Hutson’s line of womenswear, which will bear the same name as his men’s.

Alice Ritter
Ritter moved to Brooklyn from Paris nine years ago, bought a sewing machine and taught herself how to construct dresses by tearing vintage clothing apart. The former music publicist then started selling her handmade, one-of-a-kind pieces at the store Isa, where they sold out in one week. Since then Ritter has shown four collections, making a name for herself as the French Girl in New York. Her fascination with French haute couture, heirloom corsets, and 19th-century dresses has inspired designs of sculptural shapes, balloon sleeves, tartan dresses, and bolero coats. Her French romantic-meets-Annie Hall sensibility - feminine with a masculine edge - has made Ritter a favorite with editors of Elle, Vogue, and Teen Vogue. "I find nothing sexier then a woman who assumes a little masculinity as well," says the designer. Past collections have shown tailored jackets and crisp white shirts - both staples of her collection - that combine romantic soft lines with a touch of Parisian girl. Ritter has taken inspiration from a literary master-- Proust’s classic À La Recherche du Temps Perdu.

Ohne Titel
Alexa Adams and Flora Gill of Ohne Titel (meaning, ‘No Title’ in German) met eight years ago as students at Parsons School of Design. After spending a few years interning in the industry, the two met up again at Karl Largerfeld, where they worked until the line closed. It was then, in 2005, that the duo formed Ohne Titel. Now, both 27, and with two collections under their belts, the designers have garnered praise for their use of innovative fabrics and a strong utilitarian silhouette - one that could easily be attributed to Adams’ three-year stint at Helmut Lang. "Helmut is definitely an influence. From him I learned all the techniques, all the subtleties - everything about how to fit a piece of clothing properly," says the designer. Of their designs, which have been labeled "wearable, fresh and unexpected," the duo has said, "you have to be able to wear the clothing everyday; you should be able to throw it on and feel amazing.” For spring 2008, Ohne Titel have drawn inspiration by bringing together the raw elegance of Art Brut with clean, refined suiting. The tones are nude with shots of bold color using stretch-tech viscose and dry cotton weave. "Stretch fabrics are our new obsession. It's the opposite of plastic surgery. Let your body hang out and the clothing will keep it together."

Richard Chai
Since his first runway show in 2004, Richard Chai has gained a reputation for re-working classics and paying precise attention to detail, while remaining true to his minimalist style. Since then, Chai has continued to gain rave reviews from Elle, W and WWD. Chai’s eponymous line came about after helping launch Marc by Marc Jacobs, working at Donna Karan, Geoffrey Beene and revamping TSE cashmere. Clearly, he was no stranger to the fashion industry before he began creating his own sophisticated, modern designs with traditional details like hand-stitching, bias tapes, and French seams. Chai has infused his collections with Asian-inspired details like origami tailoring - "The influences my heritage has on my collection is in the pure, minimal approach to the design,” he says, "and how I cut clothes in an unconventional way." At first glance, Chai’s clothes may appear simple; but, given a closer look, the intricate elements of construction and lining emerge. Of his spring collection, Chai explains, "Lately, clothes have been so opulent, I was aiming for something understated."

~Sara Costello