NEW YORK -- Hanna's driving rains moved through the city a day too early to rain on Donna Karan's celebration.

But determined animal-rights activists managed to bring their protest to the edge of her runway yesterday near the end of the spring-summer presentation celebrating the 20th anniversary of her DKNY label.

Two young women briefly stood between a bank of photographers and the edge of the runway during the models' finale walk and hoisted signs that criticized Karan's use of animal fur in fashion design. Security quickly hustled them out.

It was not immediately known whether the protesters, who were shouting and appeared to be pregnant, were related to a demonstration outside the Bryant Park venue staged by the nonprofit organization NYC Animal Rights.

There was no fur in the DKNY spring-summer '09 collection. Rather, on the third day of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Karan presented new men's and women's lines that shored up her reputation as a force in contemporary fashion.

Like no other New York-based designer, she has interwoven her brand into the fabric of the city, immortalizing her hometown in terms of lifestyle and not just fashion. She once again paid homage to the chic and practical New York aesthetic with sexy and smart clothes that don't flirt with the borders of good taste.

The menswear was heavy on neutrals, with simple, tailored suits that could be worn with T-shirts or dressed up with dress shirts and ties.

But the collection was really about the womenswear, with bold print pieces, neon-esque pinks, greens and blues. Lightweight denim and outerwear, graphic swimsuits, multi-strand charm-style necklaces and skirts, dresses and tops festooned with girly bows, wrap-ties and sashes all seemed to say, "It's spring. Look alive, ladies!"

If Karan's collection whetted women's appetites for spring, then Tracy Reese's presentation immediately after left them panting for it.

Reese is known for pretty, perfectly tailored and embellished dresses and coats. And they were in no short supply for spring, from a cement-hued satin linen trench coat to a black appliqued-lace ballerina dress.

But she stepped up her game in the pants and top categories, relying on fresh colors and prints as she introduced her new "upstairs" Black Label collection. Her prints are among the prettiest this season, from falling leaves and Cubist abstract watercolor to pale oleander rose motifs in dresses, cropped pants, coats, lantern skirts and long and short slip dresses.

It is painstaking attention to detail that allows Reese's creations to come across as effortless, and she could teach a master class in the use of lace, eyelets, ruffles and appliques to make apparel sweetly feminine but not saccharine.

In her spring womenswear presentation, Erin Fetherston captured the '70s flavor and pastel trend that characterize many collections shown so far. And if Rosa Cha is an indication, women's swimwear will feature more of the yin and the yang of bold colors and daring cuts combined with leather, wooden and metallic accents.