Every September the fashion world converges on New York to share designs, impress buyers, attract consumers and predict what people will wear next spring. Reporters Sarah Lolley and Sara Bauknecht are there, and here are their impressions of spring 2012 Fashion Week so far -- it continues through Thursday.
NEW YORK -- One of the darkest days in American history fell in the middle of Fashion Week, when the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 was solemnly remembered across the country. The Council of Fashion Designers of America planned to not formally pay tribute to the anniversary with a public event, WWD reported, but a handful of designers chose to donate money to 9/11-related causes. Some designers also acknowledged the anniversary during their shows.
Backstage at Lela Rose, the designer felt that featuring color on a day of grays was a way of remembering those who were lost when the World Trade Center collapsed. Ms. Rose began her show in darkness while John Lennon's "Imagine" played in the background and the audience, while not visible, shared quiet tears. By the end of the song the audience sang together without any direction.
Last Friday, the venue's outdoor plaza became a seating area for overflow crowds from a memorial concert held at Avery Fisher Hall. A select number of people who could not be seated inside were offered the chance to watch the performance onscreen outdoors. That afternoon, signs were posted across the plaza offering suggestions for attendees on how to pass the time before the concert, such as by reminiscing on how music helped them cope with the events of Sept.11.

Since the start of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, a hefty amount of security has surrounded Lincoln Center, where many of the shows are being held. The roads were more sparse on Sunday, and finding a cab from downtown to uptown was challenging to those trying to make shows in both regions. NYPD and NYFD crews heavily patrolled downtown streets, barricading many that led to Ground Zero. As a result, traffic had to find alternate routes to navigate blocked roads. Sidewalks were clogged with people preaching religion, protesting the government, pushing to get a distant peek of the World Trade Center site or just trying to cross the street.
Renowned fashion photographer Bruce Weber participated in the melee of Fashion Week with a new underwear and T-shirt line called Weberbilt. In the Biergarten at the Standard Hotel in the heart of the Meat Packing District amid the hottest designer stores, Mr. Weber set up a tent with his photography and underwear collection. There wasn't a runway show, but male models such as Ian Mellencamp helped guests choose colors and motifs. The inspiration for the line was to have a bit of fun and to celebrate Mr. Weber's new digital online library.
"When I was growing up as a kid in Pennsylvania, in Greensburg, I was so scrawny and all the guys in gym class looked so good, and I thought, well, I want to make a pair of underwear that even I would look good wearing," he remarked to a tidal wave of admirers and friends during Fashion Night Out on Thursday.
The hybrid underwear has the support of a brief and the legs of a short boxer design. The vintage-style designs, according to a few women who had already worn them, were also comfy and appropriate to wear either to bed or with an ensemble. T-shirts emblazoned with a golden retriever read "Show Me Your Love." The black and white photos that appear on the tees look as if they were taken at an abandoned farm with the dog playing in the foreground. Prices range from $25 for a pair for underwear to $35-$45 for a shirt. The line will be sold on his website, www.BruceWeber.com.
The pitter-patter of keyboards and smartphones was the backdrop to much of Fashion Week, with more ways for attendees to integrate social media into their coverage. Social media is motivating designers and labels to generate support for their brands via user participation.
In this new market, designers are reinventing themselves as celebrities and not just artists. While attendance at the shows of Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, Jason Wu, DKNY, Derek Lam, Carolina Herrera and Ralph Lauren is exclusive to popular editorial executives and American Express ticket holders, the shows and their revelry permeate news sources such as Twitter, especially the tweets of The New York Times and the Facebook pages of celebrities attending the show. It is a new era of being able to watch the runway shows in real time from your couch.
However, without the garish and glitzy ensembles that Fashion Week attracts to the shows, where would the drama be?
The biggest trend at the tents at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is the pleated, sheer maxi skirt. From black to orange, fall's signature look is the uniform for the shows' glamorous sect.
Neutrals became the theme of a new decade that began with camel and has segued into a paler form of beige, almost blush. Pantone predicted the colors for spring would be yellow and orange, and that was right.
Also a popular color for spring is white and its many variations. The Olsen twins created an entire white collection for The Row. Yigal Azrouel made his collection simple with white dresses and trenches. Rebecca Taylor began her show with dresses in an oyster hue and then introduced limeade as a sudden pop of color.
Many others, like Doo.Ri and Son Jung Wan, also began with white and then blended color into the collection. Rebecca Taylor's white palette turned to blue with a print on dresses that resembled a beautiful blue, cloudy sky.
Cuchnie et Ochs utilized the colors of lemon and white with showings of pink in its retro yet futuristic line. Candela channeled warm settings, combining olive with tangerine details in the shoe and apparel line. Leaning further toward the silhouettes of "Mad Men," newcomer Honor also used lemon, pink and baby blue in vintage crepe dresses. The peachy side of orange was strong at another new designer, Dean Quinn, as well as show darling Jill Stuart, who combined it with seafoam green. Jason Wu showed off electric lime, coral and blue with fanfare.
Tip for spring: Don't discount navy. It seems to have a place in every collection, from new designer Son Jung Wan to department store stalwart Nautica, and is a workable transition from winter to spring. The classic sailing club favorite featured white and navy-striped tees, navy blazers, slim cotton jeans and crisp white cargo pants and sailing jackets.
Speaking of Nautica, to seek out ideas for its spring collection the almost 30-year-old men's line of nautical-style activewear took a road trip up the California coast. Along the way, it must have crossed paths with some seafaring sophisticates, emboldened adventurers and laid-back beach lovers, because that's the energy the spring 2012 collection emitted.
The Malibu division incorporated more color, with eye-arresting neon greens, oranges and caution yellows. Color-blocking provided visual interest to otherwise simple polos. More subdued blacks, indigos and navies came into play in cotton twill trousers and linen and seersucker suits.
Beachy-preppy-cool was the vibe of the Monterey division. More refined looks, such as chambray and cotton oxford blazers, interplayed well with fun crab and seashell prints for bathing suits. Softer watercolors boosted the ocean getaway ambience (www.nautica.com).
Geometric designs and color blocking were a major trend. Inspired by architecture, many of the shows like Cynthia Rowley's featured designs constructed to fit a woman and not confine her like a caged corset. By using silk in the creation, exposed seams became mosaics.
Polka dots in various forms were relevant from Pink Tartan's Twiggy-inspired line to rocker organic line Edun. Honor used tiny polka dots in sweetheart and reverse sweetheart necklines on full skirts. Lela Rose put hers against organza in a ball gown with a striped bustier for a dramatic mix of fun, and on the heels of the wedges in her shoe line.
Crosby Derek Lam's more casual collection used color-blocking and variations of stripes, while Eva Minge used her horizontal inspirations in an endless runway show that introduced menswear along with eyewear and bag lines. The show went from comfortable jersey to chiffon gowns in the basement of the Hudson Hotel.
First Published: September 13, 2011, 8:00 a.m.