Last June, Adam Lippes did something that few designers get to do: He got control of his label back from a big-time fashion conglomerate.

St. Louis-based Kellwood (whose holdings include Vince and Rebecca Taylor) acquired Adam, the designer’s popular men’s and women’s contemporary line, in 2010. It aimed to enlarge the scale, and started amping up production to match. The movement, Lippes recalls, was “more, more, more.” But now that he’s bought it back, he’s taking Adam the other way: small, elevated, personal. And with the exception of its celebrated t-shirts, it’s entirely womenswear.