Fashion Week Watch, Part the First



Mira Sorvino, starring in an unfortunate fashion "Don't." (image via wireimage)

It's that time of year, folks, when The Corsair trolls the blogosphere -- and, maybe attends a show or two -- to distill some of the pearls of Fashionweek for you. A funny thing happened on the way to Kenneth Cole, who opened Fashionweek. At Miss Sixty, according to popwatch:

"A pregnant (Mira) Sorvino showed up in a J. Lo-circa-2001 floppy hat and a fur-trimmed winter coat, but the ensemble only lasted through cocktail hour, most likely due to the pitying looks shot by the fashion-forward group."

Damn. That's unusually snarkish for the magnificent Entertainment Weekly. We like. What about the model scene? From Forbes via the AP:

"The industry is ripe for a sensation because it's been five years - a lifetime in the fashion world - since the last household name: Gisele (Bundchen). But even if a model breaks away from the tall, leggy pack in New York, she still has to impress in Paris and Milan, Italy.

"Then she has to score some choice magazine spreads and ad campaigns - something that's become increasingly difficult to do as actresses such as Angelina Jolie, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Teri Hatcher consistently grace the covers of glossy magazines and hawk the fashion and beauty products that used to be models' bread and butter.

" In September 2004, Vogue - the fashion industry's bible - put nine familiar-but-not-famous models on its cover and heralded the return of the fashion model. Unfortunately, says Kate Armenta, the magazine's sittings editor, the theory didn't prove true. 'The tide is really toward the celebrity culture right now. Models have taken on a different role. ... Gisele is well known but she's known more for Victoria's Secret or dating Leonardo DiCaprio, not by what ad campaigns she's been in,' she says. "

The seating drama at the tents is always intense. Remember a few years back when stylist Philip Bloch dropkicked the shit out of a Fashionweek Daily reporter's bag that was on his seat ("Bloch that kick!")? Says Sacha Charmin Morrison of Allure in NYMetro, "'I have become completely entertained by the fashion drama with seating. That is a ticket in itself. Which celebrity shows up, holds the 'curtain' and then where they seat their publicists, stylists, all the �ists��plus where to put the bodyguard. I mean, I actually have to ask the person seated next to me which show it is, because I'm spent by the time that mishegoss is handled.'"

And, according to LookOnline:

"Fashion Week got off to an unofficial start with last night�s �Icons in Black & White� party honoring Oleg Cassini, Carolina Herrera, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Mary McFadden, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Vera Wang, hosted by the CFDA and Pantene Pro-V, held at the Whitney Museum.

"... Oleg Cassini and Vera Wang were there, as was Diane Von Furstenberg, posing for the paparazzi on the main floor. Mary McFadden, wearing signature white pleated top and black floor length skinny skirt was leaving just as I arrived, and the always elegant Carolina Herrera was making an early departure as well.

"... The evening was billed as �a celebration of seven fashion moments inspired by Truman Capote�s infamous Black & White ball according to www.fashionweekdaily, but alas, other than the title, the dress code, and honorees, there crowded event was not exactly elegant in that Truman Capote-like way ... By the way, the invitation called for 'Black & White Cocktail Attire', and while some apparently ignored the suggestion, most did comply (hey, in our black and white loving fashion universe, what could be easier than putting together something in black and white?) However, this made it somewhat difficult to tell the guests from the waiters."

Model Zani Gugleman says, in NYMetro, "I�m really interested to see if Imitation of Christ is doing anything this season after Tara Subkoff�s spectacular blow out during The New Yorker panel talk. (At The New Yorker Festival's 'Generation X Fashion' panel, Subkoff vented about every aspect of the fashion business, including fellow panelists-designers Behnaz Sarafpour and Alice Roi and Vogue magazine: 'American Vogue dominates. It's politics. Success depends on how much you advertise in publications,' and 'Anna Wintour only supports young, gay men.') It�s always good to have a little drama. There is always a huge buzz surrounding Zac (Posen)�s show. It�s not just a fashion show, it�s an event�a huge scene. The energy is always intense; the music blasting in the background and the m�lange of characters in the crowd. It�s Studio 54 all over again."

From Samantha Critchell of the AP: "(John) Bartlett's runway show featured clothes fit for a lumberjack, longshoreman and a New England college professor.

"Bartlett said he was inspired by 'an untamed stretch of coastline and wilderness that lies between Provincetown and Walden Pond, Mass.' That translated into lots of thin-wale corduroy jackets and pants, trousers in a subtle plaid pattern, wool henley tops, peacoats and duck boots."