Isabel Vollrath’s approach to fashion as three-dimensional sketches, collages and/or sculpture, not to mention political statements and cultural travel reports, have previously made it difficult to place her I’VR collection in a real-life context. This season’s Venetian “Il Traghetto,” or “ferry gondola,” theme could have similarly landed the Berlin designer in hot water, but Vollrath effectively pulled back, cutting out the surreal headgear and operatic makeup and creating a black backdrop of simple underlayers for a less treacherous mise-en-scène. Fall’s rounded sleeves and cuffs owed their curve to the bow of a gondola, the blurred geometric print to a photograph of the canal, the cutout strips fluttering down coat fronts, sleeves or collars mirrored the ornamental metal “ferro” on the boat’s front and the widest of flared skirts were reminiscent of the sailing craft’s skeleton. Vollrath folded and sewed the heaviest of waxed cotton into slim pleated pants or really big skirts, and her large-scale plaids are not for the timid. Nonetheless, her penchant for drama managed to strike a more effortless and richly beautiful note this season.