If the biggest news in New York on Friday was the snow, then the second-most-important story would have to be the one about the designer who delivered a totally polished, accomplished collection, at a moment when no one would have faulted him for taking a break to revel in his first-lady-dressing success.

We’re talking about Jason Wu, of course. Michelle Obama’s go-to inaugural gown guy evidently has little interest in playing it safe. Instead, he showed a powerful, sexy, collection of clothes sure to make the White House social secretary blush.

He opened with a series of strict velvet-, fur- and silk-panelled jackets over high-collared white shirts. Before things veered too Helmut Newton, Wu moved on to a group of snakeskin bodices and skirts that dissipated into pleats of airy chiffon, printed to match. He played with transparency in lace-patterned PVC raincoats and two fine-gauge-knit jumpers inset with mesh strips.

Then came the party dresses. Tight on top and flowing into crystal-pleated skirts, they had a negligee feel balanced by leather elements. The dresses elongated into long-trained evening tops worn over cigarette trousers. As the last look—the only one in cobalt blue—twitched off the runway, show-goers were already fighting over who would get to wear it first.

‘We’re all running to try to stake a claim,’ Girls star Allison Williams said. ‘It was gorgeous and it looked like him. If I had seen any of those pieces individually in a vacuum, I would have known they had Jason’s DNA on them.’

It’s DNA that’s only getting more focused: slick, sexy and desirable. That’s Jason Wu.