Inspiration from far and wide

‘‘When I got back to New York, all I could think was ‘I wish I was back on the island.’ That’s really where the whole collection started,’’ Berardi said before his New York Fashion Week show Sunday night. ‘‘I was out on a boat with friends, and I started to think about a modern Marlene Dietrich out on a yacht for vacation in Martha’s Vineyard.’’

His eco-friendly collection is not filled with overt New England vacation references such as madras, seersucker, or crisp white shirts. Instead he opts for sequined halter tops and nods to island life in the form of cute summer dresses and dropped waistlines. He even created a lining for one of the jackets from a fabric made of seaweed.

‘‘We tried it, and it even moisturizes your skin on muggy days,’’ he says of the seaweed lining.

Berardi has had years to think about island inspiration. While he grew up in New York, he spent his childhood summers in the Lambert’s Cove section of the island, where his mother owns a house. He refers to himself as a New England boy — he attended high school in Connecticut. The Sunday runway show was his third, and he sells in a handful of boutiques in New York and Palm Springs (none yet in Boston).

‘‘Being on Martha’s Vineyard is something that makes me feel good, and I wanted that feeling to come through in the collection,’’ he says.

In addition to budding designers such as Berardi, the spring/summer 2010 collections kicked off in New York late last week with some of the biggest names in fashion descending on the city to show their collections for next season. After a recession-weary series of shows for fall 2009, the spring shows are looking optimistic and the after-parties have returned.