RSVP: Thanks & Apologies

Fashion Week is now long gone, but we would like to thank all the designers and PR forms who kindly invited The Shophound to cover their shows. Contrary to current report, most bloggers who are not adorable 13 year old fashion prodigies do not get front row seats. Often they do not get seats at all, and it is still a struggle to get invited to many of the most well known shows. For example, after seasons of requests, the folks at Anna Sui finally decided include The Shophound at what turned out to be one of our favorite shows of the season. Conversely, after two seasons of covering his presentations at a Chelsea art gallery, we no longer made the cut for up-and-coming designer Prabal Gurung's fully fledged runway debut in the tents at Bryant Park. That was disappointing, but between runways shows and presentations, we had over 60 events on our schedule to cover during Fashion Week.
We made it to exactly 36.
We really do appreciate being invited to anything, however, and if we missed your show, we are truly sorry, and we appreciate that you put a lot of work into it. We would like to have gone to more, but we always think that at some point, it's good to sleep, eat and, oh yeah, write. Plus there's always that pesky double and triple booking of time slots, and sometimes we have to weigh schlepping through slush across town against staying in the dry tents. You can imagine who wins out.
We really hope we can make it next year, but our apologies go out to:

Sartel, Mik Cire by Eric Kim, Buckler, Alexander Berardi, Charlotte Ronson, Callula Lillibelle, Vivienne Tam, Twinkle by Wenlan, Irina Shabayeva, Lorick, Caroline Seikaly, Rebecca Taylor, Tony Cohen, Jill Stuart, Tadashi Shoji, Barbara Tfank, Thuy, Siki Im, Tibi, Douglas Hannant, Elsa Palomino, Nary Manivong, Outlaws of the Border and Adrienne Landau.

Looking through the list, we can't believe we skipped popular shows like Rebecca Taylor, Charlotte Ronson and Vivienne Tam either, among others we have enjoyed in the past, but sanity must be preserved, and you don't want us writing a post about you when we are all crosseyed and exhausted.
There's always next season.

New York Fashion Week Day 8: Opulent Hours With Isaac Mizrahi, Trias, J.Mendel & Naeem Khan

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We still have a little backlog of shows we want to write about, but we finished Fashion Week with an exceedingly satisfying quartet of couture, and we don't use that term lightly.
We started the day at ISAAC MIZRAHI who, like Anna Sui, is one of those designers whose show we had always wanted to see in person. Unlike Sui, he didn't invite us, but this is the only show all week where we asked at the door if they had any extra spots, and they kindly admitted us and a few patient others before they closed up. As luck would have it, we think we hit one of his best efforts. Known for an inventive theatrical production, the designer tasked Mike Brown of Lot 71 to turn the cavernous big Tent into his Central Park Story Book with a cityscape backdrop, scrims of tree branches and a bit of falling snow. "Sort of Avedon meets Avatar" the designer wrote in a pun laden introduction. Onto this set walked models in a collection of vintage Isaac, and by that we mean the clothes were youthful, colorful, luxurious and just a bit loopy. Mizrahi's program notes morphed from descriptions like "Glass Cashmere Coat" to evocative nicknames, ending in Seven Winter Fairies called Furry, Wooly, Sneezy, Copper, Lazy, Boom-Boom and Polypuff. One strapless dress with toggles reminded us of the designer's famous kilt gowns from the '90s -in a good way, we must add. It has apparently become a thing for designers to invite one of their former runway regulars to sit in the front row, and Isaac chose Veronica Webb who, like the designer, also starred in a show canceled by Bravo. The feelings must not be too hard because she was awfully chummy with the network's programming executive/talk show host Andy Cohen on her right along with Russell Simmons on her left.

Next, we, and about six of Isaac's models dashed to the Promenade tent for Spanish designer JOAQUIN TRIAS' second show in New York. We would have hoped that more executives and press from Mizrahi's show would have hung around for Trias, because he showed an inventive and focused collection, perhaps to a fault. His architectural sportswear was sleek, elegant and flawlessly styled, though the lineup was conspicuously missing at least a few evening pieces. It is a challenge for an overseas designer to really take advantage of all the Fashion Week action if he doesn't have a solid following here, especially at the end of a busy week of shows, but his intricately pleated and constructed pieces deserve more attention.
Later, we returned to the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week tents in Bryant Park for the final time for J.MENDEL's presentation in the Salon tent. Mendel used to do a pretty extravagant runway show, but has since switched to a more intimate format. Now we can see the remarkable details and finishing up close, and we always like having a few seconds to photograph the models while they are standing in one place. Of course, this was no quiet little gallery. While not as chaotic as Tory Burch's presentation in the same space the day before, it was still hectic, and if the models were sweet, as many of them were, they would hold a pose for you if your shot got messed up when someone popped up in front of you or bumped you aside. While there were plenty of furs, the show mainly focused on designer Gilles Mendel's apparel. Models were placed up and down either side of the runway and would alternate walking down the center for the official photographers in their usual pit. We're told Brooke Shields and Melissa George stopped by, but who could tell? We were more fascinated by how two of our favorite models, Cecilia Mendez and Georgie Badiel, could remain so cool and nonchalant amongst the hubub. Well, we suppose that's why they are models. As we exited, we were handed a bag containing a heart shaped purse charm made from puffy blue mink courtesy of Kopenhagen Fur. Click HERE for a complete gallery of the entire J. Mendel Fall 2010 Collection.
Finally, we finished it all at NAEEM KHAN in the Promenade tent. Khan, an eveningwear staple at Bergdorf's and Nieman's has gotten the First Lady Boost from designing the splendid gown that Michelle Obama wore to the State Dinner for the Prime Minister of India. There was extra anticipation, an while Khan had his row of stars including Shields again as well as "Dreamgirls" star Anika Noni Rose and Actress Reshma Shetty from "Royal Pains", he also, more importantly, had his clients like Jamee Gregory and CeCe Cord, making explicit the distinction between those who are paid to sit and be photographed looking at clothes and those who pay to own them. In addition to the executives from Bergdorf's and Saks, there were teams of the stores' key salespeople who were there to specifically tell their buyers to order this dress for that customer. Anyone who was expecting a show of restrained elegance like Mrs. Obama's gown would be in for a surprise, as Khan sent out a mesmerizing cavalcade of lavishness we haven't seen since, well, ever. There was no dithering around with daytime looks for him as he started off with the sort of crystal beaded and metallic embroidered gown most designers would have used as a finale and went on from there. On top of this, he added abundant jewels by his wife, Ranjana Khan, who received her own run of show list detailing each piece. In ever more dazzling gowns, the models walked to a mix of hard '70s and '80s rock standards, and we have to say we chuckled a bit when the speaker blasted AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" as a succession of glittering princesses made their way down the runway. By the end, the crowd was so blissfully intoxicated by the parade of shiny things that it leapt to its feet, a sight rarer than you might think at Fashion Week, but an excellent way for us to end it.

Jon Caramanica Goes Shopping: Waning Warehouse Edition

This week's Critical Shopper, Times writer Jon Caramanica, plunges into the depths of the men's section of the Barneys Warehouse Sale currently going on in Chelsea. We thank him for this. We have been preoccupied with Fashion Week stuff, so we haven't had a chance to drop by yet (oh, we'll hit it at some point). Jon takes us though the paces of the standard rummage through the dungeon underneath what is normally the 18^th Street Barneys Co-op, and astutely observes that the once highly anticipated Warehouse sale has a lot more competition these days,

The recent Opening Ceremony sample sale had the free-for-all vibe of the Warehouse’s earlier days. Also, in between my two trips to the Barneys sale, I checked out an Odin clearance and sales on GiltMan.com, as did, I imagine, thousands of other people.

Not to mention the fact that the sale is a prime opportunity for those impulse purchases that haunt your closet for years to come,

Every respectable closet in New York has one or seven items bought in haste at a Warehouse Sale. I’m looking at you, light green, pink and baby blue Piattelli shirt with the clown-suit-wide collar. And don’t think you’re off the hook, tan suede two-eyelet Heschung chukkas. Ever since I rescued you from the Warehouse, you’ve been ill-fitting ingrates.

We tend to think that the real reason that the sale is a bit lackluster this time around is that in the past year or so, most retailers have reduced their inventories dramatically, so the jaw dropping surpluses of about a year ago are nowhere to be found. Stock levels are now tightly controlled, and while we are sure that there are still gems to be found at the Warehouse Sale, they are going to be fewer and further between for a couple of years until free spending times return.
Don't worry, they will.
They always do.
Critical Shopper | Barneys Warehouse Sale: What Does Taste Have to Do With It? by Jon Caramanica (NYTimes)
Barneys Warehouse Sale through February 28th at 255 West 17^th Street between 7^th & 8^th Avenues, Chelsea

New York Fashion Week Day 7: Happy Surprises With Anna Sui

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Believe it or not, The Shophound does not actually get invited to every single show.
We know, SHOCKING, right?
We had never been to an ANNA SUI show, and after seasons of dutifully requesting, we had pretty much given up hope that she would ever invite us to her perennially popular runway. But then, a few weeks ago, to our delighted surprise, an invitation arrived in the mail with its seat assignment printed neatly on the back. We had pegged it as one of our Fashion Week highlights (especially since PHI was now permanently off the schedule), and she did not disappoint.
Sui is never shy about her inspirations, and this season she looked to the Arts & Crafts movement of about a century or so ago which was clear from this season's elaborate backdrop painted to look like a stained glass landscape. There were lots of beautiful antique prints piled atop each other and splashed on tights. She even designed a special T-shirt based on James McNeill Whistler's Peacock Room in the Freer Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. But of course that's only one design element in Sui's synthesis of stimuli. If grunge and layering have emerged as key trends this season, those are two ideas that have always been in the center of this designer's wheelhouse. Perhaps more than any other American designer, her collections are always recognizably hers, and this season, the trends came to Anna Sui, where she welcomed them home for a big feast like any good mother would.
The production levels were high, and, as always, the model lineup was an all-star cast, opening and closing with one of Karen Elson's now rare appearances and featuring returning champs like Agyness Dean, and others who hold out for the best like Sasha Pivovarova, Natasha Poly, Snejana, Vlada, and Sessilee. Essentially, nobody turns down an Anna Sui casting call.
There was certainly a high energy level at the show, where the anticipation was able to perk up a weary fashion flock nearing the end of what for many will only be the first leg of an international runway show marathon. Sui's evening show typically attracts a lot of fans. We entered the big Tent alongside a statuesque woman in an elaborate embroidered ivory charmeuse gown, and lots of the designer's fans wore their beast Sui. We were mostly free from what was passing for celebrity this season, Peaches Geldof was there squirming in the front row with her purple-haired boyfriend. Model Irina Lazareanu, usually stalwart on Sui's runway, took in the show from the audience, and a troupe of Asian girls decked out by the designer turned out to be the Wonder Girls, a Korean singing group trying desperately to break through to the American public.
On each seat -even up to the back rows, bless her heart- Sui left a mini shopping bag featuring 4 ml of Rock Me! eau de toilette, two eye color accents, and a gold guitar keychain ion a little velvet bag.
Our thanks to whoever it was at Anna Sui and KCD who decided that it was finally time to invite us. We have had to skip several shows this season (more on that later) but this one was a can't-miss on our schedule, and one of the most satisfying of the season.

New York Fashion Week Days 5 & 6: Moving Right Along With Carlos Miele, Perry Ellis & Max Azria

While the folks at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week are doing their best to whip up some nostalgia for this last season at Bryant Park, but the activity at the tents has, in fact been a bit lackluster. Rather than a grand finale, its starting to feel kind of like the house you are in the process of moving out of when you have half of you stuff all packed up and it's starting to look empty. In fairness we must state that we haven't been hanging out much in them the way we once did mainly because there isn't much going on the way there used to be. The sponsor booths have been filled somewhat sporadically, and it looks like the days of the Havaianas Flip-Flop-Free-For-All are long gone. Even a promotion for Mariah Carey's new perfume failed to include what one would have thought would have been an obligatory appearance by the singer herself. We do, however get media alerts for events like a cast member from "The City" showing up at the TRESemmé booth for a few minutes to basically get her hair brushed. Because that's a story? The Chambord Chocolate Fountain, however, seems to be here for the long haul, and for that we are grateful a couple of times a day. Maybe the Lincoln Center move can't come soon enough.

Monday started for us at CARLOS MIELE in the Promenade tent, whose first look was a silk cocktail dress in a geometric panels of ruched silk charmeuse that was about as autumnal as a hot day at the beach. That's not a criticism. It was, in fact, a refreshing sight whe snow was anticipated, and perfectly appropriate since the Brazilian designer's strength is eveningwear that is basically seasonless anyway. Miele wisely cut costs by having a celebrity-free front row, which made French Vogue Editor Carine Roitfeld's presence that much more significant.

Later, "Gossip Girl" dad Matthew Settle showed up in the Promenade tent for PERRY ELLIS reminding us that most of the first row glamour this season has been provided by locals ("Gossip Girl" films on location in New York) He was joined by cohorts Jessica Stroup of "90210" and Robert Buckley of "One Tree Hill" for some kind of CW network trifecta as well as "Ugly Betty"'s Mark Indelicato and NFL Wide Receiver Terrell Owens, making him the rare pro football player willing to visit Fashion Week. The brand has been absent from the runways for a few seasons, and the crowd seemed eager to welcome it back In the past, Perry Ellis designer John Crocco has shown collections that really only "inspire" what winds up on the racks at Macy's. This season, however, it looks like he was working with fewer runway showpieces and more of what the moderate men's sportswear label actually produces. Was this the mythical luxury "Signature" collection that lives only on the runway? The leather pants would suggest so, but sometimes it was hard to tell. We're beginning to think it would be nice to see Crocco get a luxury line of his own so we could really see what he can do without the weird sort of smokescreen Perry Ellis shows its line behind.
One thing we do know is that there is a certain audience at Fashion Week who are more than happy to watch models like Garrett Neff and Sean O'Pry walk past no matter what kind of collection they are wearing.
The next day we reconvened for MAX AZRIA's big Tent show, his last of the season. Azria presents thre complete collections in the tents including BCBG and Hervé Leger along with his signature label, and it must be said that they are among the most flawlessly produced of anything to be seen. For a while, we wondered it the Azria collection wasn't a bit redundant, but lately it has taken on a more distinct image of its own, and this season it was about sleek, black geometric draping that was minimal and sophisticated. Azria has also not abandoned the front row tradition, and in this show he garnered the best of who was available in a dry season for stars. Leigh Lezark (who must be cleaning up in front row fees this season), Estelle, Melissa George, AnnaLynne McCord, Maggie Q, Maggie Rizer and volleyball champ Kerri Walsh all cozied up in a row, doubtlessly happy that Azria will still spare no expense in creating the perfect runway experience.

New On Madison Avenue: Hermès Presents A Jewel Box For Men

Usually, Fashion Week is accompanied by a flurry of store openings and refreshed retail activity, but this season, in a lagging effect of the recession, there are far fewer débuts on the docket. The standout is clearly Hermès' highly anticipated new men's store on Madison Avenue, located directly across the street from its flagship store.
We have been made very aware that this is the first Hermès store devoted exclusively to its men's products anywhere in the world, even before Paris. It's fairly obvious that the store was planned not so much because there was such a huge demand for menswear but because the luxury brand came upon an irresistible real estate opportunity when the Luca Luca store at the corner of 62^nd street went dark and Madison Avenue retail space suddenly became not as precious as it had been only a couple of years earlier (This is not meant to diminish the store. For example, Bergdorf Goodman's highly successful men's store was conceived in the midst of a recession in much the same way).
The luxury brand has cleverly made the most of an unusual space with four not terribly spacious floors, creating the intimate effect of a set exclusive boutiques stacked atop each other. The facade of the townhouse building has been tweaked to create a dark, masculine counterpoint to the main store, subtly mirroring its architectural details, and customers enter to -what else?- abundant displays of Hermès' signature neckties. We are pretty sure that tie sales alone would be enough to pay the rent on this store, but climb the stairs to find an assortment of luxury sportswear. We were spellbound by a featherweight silk windbreaker the color of mud that was clearly never meant to see the inside of a subway or feel the pressure of a heavy laptop bag on its delicate shoulder. No, this jacket, priced at over $3,000, was obviously meant to visit hand-stitched auto seats. Longtime designer Véronique Nichanian deserves credit for keeping Hermès apparel from looking like expensive clothes for rich old men. They are expensive clothes for somewhat younger rich men, but the attitude is more sleek race-car driver than leathery shipping magnate on a yacht.
One more flight brings us an expanded selection of watches and more formal clothing and shoes priced at -oh, you don't even want to ask, and yet another floor contains an even more hushed salon devoted to custom orders.
It's not by accident that Hermès has survived the recession relatively unscathed compared to other luxury brands. The staff (many of whom were likely imported from across the street) have none of the overeagerness you usually find in a newly opened shop. They are welcoming but far from smothering, and for those skeptics out there, we can report that there was business being done on every floor. Did it appear to be mostly with foreign tourists? Yes, but a sale, as they say, is a sale.
Hermès Men's Store 690 Madison Avenue at 62^nd Street, Upper East Side

J.Crew To Bring Men's To Madison Avenue This Fall

J.Crew has admirably accomplished the perilous task of trading up, and will add a Men's Store, its third in Manhattan, to the successful Crewcuts and Women's J.Crew Collection stores on upper Madison Avenue at 79^th Street. The new shop will be directly across the street from the women's unit, and will be a continuation of the men's concept stores found in SoHo and Tribeca. This means that it will focus on the more fashion forward men's products like narrower cut trousers and tailored clothing. The chain store's collaborations with Red Wing and Alden shoes, Baracuta outerwear and Thomas Mason shirts are also expected to be highlighted in the store which, like the downtown versions, will be designed individually to reflect its setting. If it is to follow the template of the other stores, however, those looking for J.Crew's more basic items (as well as any clearance items!) will still have to go to the regular, full stores in Rockefeller Center, the Flatiron district, Columbus Circle or the South Street Seaport.
In our marginally humble opinion here at The Shophound HQ, we think the Madison Avenue store is a terrific idea, but a big, full-line J.Crew for those provincial Upper East Side Manhattanites who never get downtown would be kind of a no-brainer as well. Third Avenue somewhere in the 60s comes to mind. Consider it an educated suggestion.
That is all.
J. Crew to Open Fourth Men's Store (WWD)

The First Lady's Favor Fails: Maria Pinto Folds

The Michelle Obama Effect has given many designers like Thakoon, Maria Cornejo and even Narciso Rodriguez a noticeable lift in sales and visibility -and in some cases, like that of Jason Wu, created an extraordinary boost- but unfortunately, it has not been enough to keep one of the First Lady's favorites, Maria Pinto, in business. Pinto announced this week that she would be closing her Chicago boutique, wholesale business and design studios for the time being. Even though she had a well received presentation at last September's Fashion Week, the core fashion press never quite took to her classically styled dresses in the same way that they began celebrating the younger designers like Thakoon and Wu. Still, Pinto, identified as a favorite of Mrs. Obama when she was still the wife of the Democratic nominee, continued to make her signature jewel toned sheath dresses for the First Lady, who wore them regularly.
It's possible that working from Chicago made it harder for the designer to build relationships with New York based retailers and press, but WWD speculates that part of the problem may be the shrinking number of independent specialty boutiques that would make up Pinto's natural client base, and the difficulty that many of those who remain may be having paying their bills on time.
Maria Pinto Shutters Businesses (WWD)

New York Fashion Week Day 4: Lazy Sunday With Luca Luca, Simon Spurr & Commonwealth Utilities

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Three is a nice, manageable number of fashion shows for one day, especially when the Olympics are on. Our apologies to the designers whose shows we missed. The thing about weekend shows at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Bryant Park tents is that they often turn into a leisure activity for a lot of people who bring their kids and hang around. We actually stayed out of the tents for most of the day, in part because our patience for crisscrossing Manhattan is low.
We began our day in the Promenade tent at LUCA LUCA, our first time at this show, whose wide coverage continues to bewilder us. It has always been a popular, well attended event during fashion week, and yet, as far as we can tell, as a company it now consists of only four boutiques, New York, Chicago, Miami and Palm Beach, and no wholesale accounts. We are not sure how this label manages to sustain the kind of seasonal runway show in one of the larger tents that would befit a much bigger firm. Having sold it to a Florida-based concern, charismatic founder Luca Orlandi is no longer with the company, though he was at the show, and Raul Melgoza is the current creative director. His collection was lovely and salable, if a bit innocuous. Even the music seemed generic. It should easily sell in its shops, but our attention kept wandering to the motley crew in the front row (pictured above) featuring regulars like Tinsley Mortimer and her current BF, erstwhile American Idol contestant Constantine Maroulis, former supermodel and reality show regular Carol Alt, models Irina Pantaeva and Oluchi Onweagba who is Mrs. Orlandi and brought their cute baby (a poular weekend accessory at these shows), "Community" and "Mad Men" star Alison Brie, who along with Alt made a quick costume change after Lela Rose earlier, and the annoying "Real Housewife" (oh let's face it they are all annoying) Kelly Killoren Bensimon. Had it not been for the pictures we took, we could barely remember what the clothes looked like an hour afterward.
Next we headed down to the Altman Building for SIMON SPURR's first runway show after several seasons of presentations. Here, we were not at all surprised by the strong attendance. Spurr has been quietly building a luxury menswear label from the ground up, and has developed an enthusiastic following at Barneys, Bergdorf's Bloomingdale's, Blue & Cream and Scoop among other retailers, and nearly every prominent menswear merchant and editor in the industry made a showing. Spurr even managed to attract Anna Wintour, whose presence at a menswear show is rare and valuable, marking the designer as one to watch. This season also marked the split of his line, with the "Spurr" label denoting jeans and casualwear, and "Simon Spurr" affixed to his more refined items.
Thankfully, the designer showed no interest in dressing schoolboys or lumberjacks, focusing his sleek classical sensibility on his signature luxurious basics, styled with an eye towards the urbane sophisticate. There were boldly patterned suits for the runway, but what we will remember are the immaculately tailored coats and jackets, and the sportswear touched with a hint of punk detail. If things keep going the same way for Spurr, he will soon need a bigger venue than the Altman Building to hold his audience.

Later, we were intrigued to see the new NoMad Hotel at 28^th Street and Broadway, where the COMMONWEALTH UTILITIES show was being scheduled, although we were soon to discover that the show would be held in the gutted building that would eventually contain the NoMad Hotel. It certainly made for an evocative atmosphere. Hot drinks and handwarmers were distributed to showgoers in the unheated space, and each seat held an unfortunately empty stainless steel hip flask. The hotel doesn't open until 2011, but Commonwealth Utilities is somewhat more ready for consumption. Designer Anthony Keegan looked to the archetypes that are ruling menswear trends at the moment, and came away with an appealing sexy-military-collegiate theme called "An Officer And A Gentleman" which he showed on a team of equally appealing fresh faced models. You can't really go wrong with that sort of thing, we thought as we headed home to fill our new flask.

New York Fashion Week Day 3: Stacking Shows With Georges Chakra. Andy & Debb, Adam, Academy of Art and Arise

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We have made a promise that we wouldn't overdo Fashion Week this time, and yet we found our schedule stacked with shows on Saturday, and that's not even counting the ones we skipped. Nobody should go to 10 fashion shows in one day, and we certainly didn't. On the other hand, its hard to walk away from a show that you have been invited to and provided with a seat assignment, especially when it is conveniently in the vicinity of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week tents, so today we wound up at six shows, five of which we will discuss here (we're saving Loden Dager for an upcoming menswear post).
Saturday's swag du jour came with a Valentine theme courtesy of Cambria Cove (pictured above), a gift website featuring pretty little chocolates from Norman Love and heart shaped French milled soaps from Gianna Rose Atelier which were being distributed generously to an eager crowd that can smell free stuff ant ten paces. Those chocolates were yummy, and we're hoping they show up again soon.

We barely made it into GEORGES CHAKRA's prêt à porter collection, EDITION, due to slow moving subway, but the security guards let us slip in just as the show commenced rather than sit outside and watch it on monitors. The Lebanese born designer has been successful getting his couture gowns on to red carpets, and has become known for pretty dresses with a high glamour quotient, if not the kind of directional style and innovation that excites major editors. They do, however, excite retailers, and the show featured plenty of eveningwear that was often as striking as it was salable. The only celebrity we could discern there was "Real Housewife" Alex McCord and her husband, another front row dweller we can expect to see multiple times daily for the next several days. A woman in extra glitzy sunglasses turned out to be Tanyka Renee of the NY Majesty Lingerie Football League. We don't know exactly what that is, but it sounds porn-y and suggest that the bar for front row qualification is dipping ever lower.
We had seen an ANDY & DEBB show a few seasons ago and found the Korean based label a bit lacking in finesse, so we weren't in any hurry to revisit them until now. After all, we right there and it seemed a shame to waste a reserved seat. Fortunately, the designers have improved their production, and refined their collection substantially. This season's sportswear featured some well executed leathers and a few impressively worked furs that suggest we may have initially underestimated the label. This was actually our first visit to the Salon tent this season, and here again was Leigh Lezark along with model/actress/Benihana heiress Devon Aoki. We are beginning to wonder just how much the tireless Lezark rakes in for her front row appearances. It seems unconvincing that she could be changing her outfit for every runway show without being paid.

Next up was ADAM BY ADAM LIPPES, whom we have followed since his forst show. We almost didn't get in because the designer switched PR firms for his show, and we requested to the wrong agency thanks to a not-as-updated-as-they-thought Press List from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. We wondered if that had something to do with last season's show at Milk studios that left many invitees shut out of the too-small space with no way to see what they had gone out of their way for, but then PR prince Paul Wilmot, who leads Lippes' former firm was right in the front row, so clearly there's no acrimony. Behind the scenes mysteries aside, we are glad Adam returned to a larger venue for one of his best shows yet. Lipped continues to develop, this season mixing his characteristic upbeat attitude with cozy, richly textured materials. even sequins and silver embroidery were mixed with soft flannels and burly knits. Perennial front row denizen Tinsley Mortimer got the lion's share of the photographers' attention before the show, though we are pretty sure we saw "Pushing Dasies" actor Lee Pace in very low key mode a bit further down the runway being totally ignored.

As we sat waiting for the ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY show to start, it occurred to us that the Bravo network was in great part responsible for bloating fashion show front rows with silly people. There again was Alex McCord and husband having changed clothes once again along with Dwight Eubanks, a Real Housewives of Atlanta hanger-on in a top hat and dinner jacket at 3 in the afternoon. Naturally photographers swarmed, proving that they mostly have no way of discerning a ridiculous looking person from a stylish one. Noticeably absent were well-known people who actually have anything to do with the fashion business, like Tim Gunn, who aside form his obligatory Project Runway show appearance, appears to be taking a break from the proceedings. As for the show, this edition was surprisingly free from student theatrics, instead opting for mostly wearable garments conceived on a human scale. Instead of sending the message, "Look how fabulous and creative I am," they seemed to say, "I would like a job, please", which worked to the young designers' benefits. There were, of course, drawbacks. It was easy to tell who was a Rick Owens fan (all of them), but a standout was Sabah Mansoor Husain, whose crystal studded knitwear showed welcome inventiveness.

Later in the evening, we really could have stayed home to watch the Olympics, but we hate to miss the ARISE AFRICAN COLLECTIVE show, mainly because the Afro-centric magazine pulls out all the stops for one of the most elaborate productions seen during the week, as well as a stellar model line-up. This season, the bar was raised with an intricately constructed set of floating panels and video screens placed throughout the tent, but the focus was more on the clothes than the party atmosphere. The first designer, South Africa's Black Coffee designed by Jacques Van Der Watt and Danica Lepen sent out scupltured coats in pastel colors on a model lineup that echoed Prada's, meaning that they were largely white. This was a bit dismaying in a show that typically has showcased the models of color who have such difficulty getting cast elsewhere, but we gave them the benefit of the doubt, figuring that they were trying to show that African-made clothes could be for anybody. Next, the Tanzanian Anisa Mpungwe's Loincloth & Ashes showed graphic prints and architectural constructions, but it was Nigerian born Deola Sagoe who whipped up the crowd excitement that this show has become known for, sending out the first of her sultry, glamorous looks on Sessilee Lopez, clearly a crowd favorite followed by the star Black models the audience had been anticipating like Arlenis, Aminata, Kinée and Oluchi ending with superstar Iris Strubegger in a golden gown that evoked Hollywood more than Africa. Had we gone to the show's afterparty at the Plaza Hotel, we could have seen a performance by Ciara, but at that point, enough was truly enough, and we were done for the day.