Richard Chai's sporty spring

Fashionistas, stay close to your personal trainers.

Bare midriffs on sexy tennis dresses ruled the Spring/Summer 2013 runway as Richard Chai Love presented his line at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week's New York shows.

Splashes of bright white in solid cotton or as a backdrop for silk prints gave the collection a lighter-than-air feeling.

And the short A-line skirts on tennis dresses gave them a flirtatious 60s swing.

Chai, a Korean-American designer based in New York, explained his inspiration.

SOUNDBITE: Richard Chai, designer, saying (English):

"Yes, it was a bit of swimwear, a bit of kind of tennis, a bit of everything really. I think when you look at clothes that are - athletic clothing, there is real construction and thought to how they are made, and I think it's really nice to be able to translate that in a way that feels very luxe and wearable."

Chai's signature prints resembled watercolors mixing floral motifs and stripes - as sheer fabric was as delicate as silk.

SOUNDBITE: Richard Chai, designer, saying (English):

"A lot of the prints this season are digitized and blurred and layered, so it creates a softness and lightness to the collection. That was very important."

Fashion week will run through September 13 at New York's Lincoln Center and other venues in Manhattan.