New York Fashion Week Day 7: One Foot In Front Of The Other With Brian Reyes, PHI, Rebecca Taylor & Ports 1961

We simply do not know the true cause of the epidemic of falling models this season, but it seems the girls have learned to deal by simply stopping to remove their shoes before something worse happens. We can imagine the look of horror that must have passed over BRIAN REYES' face backstage on Thursday morning as model after model unshod herself mid-walk. He made the most of it by sending every girl out barefoot for the finale, but it was hell on the pacing of his show. We don't know what the great challenge was with the pumps Manolo Blahnik made for Reyes. Though certainly high and pointy, they lacked the vertiginous platforms that would appear to have foiled most of this week's tumblers. Our best guess is that they were just too big for most of the girls, and they were literally stepping out of them.
It's too bad that the shoe issue was such a distraction. Reyes had a light hand for Fall –so light it sometimes looked like Spring– but he offered a subdued, tailored alternative to the current rash of bold '80s looks, without looking out of step.

There were no wobbly walkers at PHI. As usual, designer Andreas Melbostad gathered the cream of the available models in the burgeoning brand's showroom. If the bolder side of the '80s is the order of the day, then here is an excellent place to start. Melbostad tends to alternate each season from looser shapes to form fitting ones, and if it's fall, it must be tight and sexy. There were zips and hardware aplenty, but softened with rich mixes of fabrics, furs and embroidery, often cinched with a wide triple buckle belt. The collection trod comfortable ground for PHI, but it was executed and presented with energy. When the trends fall directly on your sweet spot, it would be foolish to ignore them, and we know for a fact that there are no fools at PHI.
Next, at REBECCA TAYLOR, most of the commotion was caused by Tori Spelling, and a camera crew which may have been her own. Spelling joined Mena Suvari, Stacy London and a Kardashian in Celebrity Row. Taylor's stock in trade is flirty but not cloying, and for Fall she tempered it it with animal prints and added shine with studs instead of satin. Like most designers this season, Taylor is judiciously not looking for new directions, but instead refining and editing what she does best, as if to reassure loyal customers that she can be relied upon. It may be safe, but it is bringing out the best in many labels, and pushing them back to their roots.

PORTS 1961 has become an increasingly hot ticket. Designer Tia Cibani's productions have become can't miss events. This time, noting her Indian Mughal inspiration tis season, she had "dhol'n'brass" band Red Baraat Festival! provide live Bhangra rhythms. Anna Wintour was in her seat between waiting at 3:05, and the seats were fully filled by 3:15. There was only a smattering of open spots for lucky standing roomers, and the models were walking by 3:20, a shockingly timely start by Fashion Week standards, Marc Jacobs' newly maniacal punctuality notwithstanding. In a season of bold color, Cibani sent out some of the most vibrant and opulent, and only occasionally veered a bit too far into the sari shop.

More details after the jump

BRIAN REYES
MODELS: We were so distracted by the shoe action that they seemed secondary. New girl Myf opened followed by mostly second stringers except for Han Jin, Erin Heatherton & Gracie Carvalho
CELEBRITIES: Ivanka Trump, looking pretty bombshell-ish and Rachel Bilson.

PHI
MODELS: No second stringers here, and it was a one girl-one look show. Natasha Poly opened followed by nearly every other A-Lister including Raquel Zimmerman, Chanel Iman, Lily Donaldson, Kim Noorda, karlie Kloss, Freja both Annas Selezneva and Jagodinska,  Magdalena Frackowiak, etc. etc. Sasha Pivovarova closed.
CLEBRITIES:  We couldn't see any this season, but this was a show for press heavy hitters like Carine Roitfeld. Our seat was around the bend which made for good pictures, but we couldn't see if La Wintour was there. If she was, she slipped out using the secret back elevator.

REBECCA TAYLOR:
MODELS: Fairly standard lineup for the season. All the top girls were reserved by PHI one hour earlier.
CELEBRITIES: Tori Spelling, Mena Suvari, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Khloe Kardashian, Danielle Panabaker, Stacy London. Comedienne Loni Love was there wearing a tiara with a camera crew for DL Hughley's show.

PORTS 1961:
MODELS: Is opening an Indian Themed show with Bangalore born Lakshmi Menon too on the nose? Not here. We are happy to see Lakshmi in any show. She was joined by Yordanos Teshager, Joan Smalls, Georgie, Wanessa and Eugenia Mandzhievafor a highly multicultural cast. Bruna Tenorio closed
CELEBRITIES: Olivia Palermo is being identified as an "actress" these days, evn though her only credit is "The City" in a role called "herself"
GIFT BAG: No knit-it-yourself kits this year, though we did spy little bags from La Maison du Chocolat on the front row seats.