Ulla Johnson held her show outdoors, in Gotham Park under the Brooklyn Bridge overpass, and afterward she is helping plant 750 native plants and 12 trees there for good. Her own words stuck with me: "There's so much impermanence to what happens in these 15 minutes."

I love a designer who thinks past the runway, and I think it shows in the clothes. This is a long way from the boho dresses she built her name on, yet the dreamy streak is still there, in pastel color and painted details.

Florals turned up in about a third of the looks, and fuzzy shoes in more than a third, which made the whole thing feel playful rather than precious. That is the right mood for a spring wardrobe, and it starts with the dresses.

What I keep coming back to is how good the shirting was. Johnson called it a counterpoint to all the gauze: cool poplin shirts, soft tailoring and jeans, and a mint button-down under a peachy denim cropped trench.

One model wore baggy denim in a hyper overwash, a cotton shirt and a silk scarf flying in the breeze. Johnson said that look spoke to the "taste for self-expression" she sees on the streets of New York, and to my eye it was the most believable outfit in the show.

Trousers appeared in about one in five looks, so this is not a collection that hides in dresses. I would happily take a crisp shirt or a ruffled blouse and wear it with jeans on a Tuesday.

Johnson insists that sheers belong in daylight, not just at night, and the skirts make the case. A fishnet pencil skirt in blossom pink sat under that denim trench, and a fuller skirt in gauzy organza was painted with another flower and worn with a shrunken jacket.

She said they were looking to play with transparency and movement, and you can see it in how the fabric floats as the models walk. I especially like the idea of a skirt that moves like that with something sturdy on top.

Bags showed up in about a quarter of the looks, mostly as a quiet accessory, and sunglasses only in a handful. That restraint lets the skirts do the talking, and I am glad they do.

The finale is what lingers. Johnson closed with a trapeze gown that looked made for a boho bride, with clusters of art deco embroidery and silk fringe dripping from it. Watching the models walk the long runway in breezy, gauzy layers, I kept thinking of summer weddings, even in the middle of Brooklyn.

That is a lovely thing for a show to leave you with. It is romantic without being sticky, and the denim and poplin keep it grounded in real life.

If I were choosing, I would take a painted floral piece, a pale blouse and the baggiest jeans I could find. It is spring dressing that feels lived in, and that, to me, is the point.