MODELS clad in Bermuda shorts may have strutted down the runway as part of New York's Fashion Week ? but only thanks to a slick marketing ploy orchestrated by the Department of Tourism.

According to , the once popular style of shorts are no more a hit with the fashion forward today than they were when branded a by The Learning Channel less than a year ago ? their appearance at Fashion Week evidence of the influence a huge investment can wield.

"New York, unlike Paris or London, has always been more focused on conservative commercialism than on maverick creativity, and this season the commerce is more blatant than ever," the British Sunday newspaper reported.

"The designer Peter Som's show has been underwritten by the Bermuda Tourist Board, on condition that he include Bermuda shorts in his autumn collection. Richard Tyler's show has been made possible by Delta Air Lines, and as a result he will be showing more uniforms he has designed for Delta staff than outfits from his own Richard Tyler Couture label."

Asked about his Bermuda-friendly design by , Mr. Som said he'd planned to incorporate shorts in his collection long before he was approached by Tourism.

Known as city shorts, they were of knee-length cut and similar to a pencil skirt. Their adaptation, to Bermuda city shorts, was unveiled yesterday along with the rest of Mr. Som's designs ? presented before a crowd at the Plaza Hotel.