>> After a couple of seasons of prints aplenty — including last Spring's floral explosion — Dries Van Noten's newest outing seems calm in comparison.  Not that he completely did away with prints — when you're Dries van Noten, that just won't do — checks and squares worked out on a computer and dip-dyed in a gradient rainbow replaced the feminine florals with graphic flair.  Between the new direction and the show's setting — a tent around the Pol Bury silver ball fountains — the critics were pleased.  Cathy Horyn called the collection "wonderful," Suzy Menkes found it "lovely" and Christina Passariello of The Wall Street Journal thought it "perfect for Parisian dressing."