At heart, Adam Lippes is a sportswear designer, a die-hard advocate of pragmatic style. Yet he delivers said style with a flourish that elevates good-looking clothes to the level of chic. For spring, Lippes looked toward Africa for gestures both large and small, incorporating time-honored shapes — the caftan, Berber pants — as well as interesting textile motifs into his clothes. The latter turned up in an abstracted black-and-white pattern and a silk-thread fringe embroidery he employed as an innovative way to shush up a coat, calling it “summer fur.” And speaking of shushing, Lippes took bold liberty with the humble tank dress, giving it a long skirt made of 20 tightly pleated yards of silk plissé. It radiated extravagance and ease in equal measure.