After a looong day at work on Tuesday, I managed to make it to Tony Cohen’s Spring 2009 Collection Show at the Salon in Bryant Park.

New York fashion fixtures Patrick McDonald (who pens the Highbrow column in Paper Magazine) and Leigh Lezark of the Misshapes were seated front row opposite me (which sort of tells you a lot about the attendance of the show).

The collection featured lots of draped, tucked, and gathered chiffon which floated down the runway. All-in-all, it was a pretty collection that I can imagine many of my friends (as well as bi-coastal It girls) wearing.

And as pretty as the clothing was, the hair was crazy. Big and sort of scraggly, it only accentuated the wobbliness of the girls as they struggled to walk down the runway in heels that seemed unstable (although I would love to try a pair). Actually, I wasn’t a fan of the casting for this show in general, but that may simply be due to the overall styled effect or just sitting front row where I worried about being crushed by a falling model.

On a related note: The spring shows, in case you haven’t noticed already, are quite devoid of jewelry compared to the fall. Tony Cohen’s show did include some jewelry, and although it was Erickson Beamon, which is usually all kinds of wonderful-gaudy bling, but it was stripped down to just simple rope chain necklaces. Click below for images for the show (and a close-up shot of the shoes) below…

Something just reminded me of this (probably an ad for the new 90210):

I’ve been to several shows in the tents so far and have yet to see the CFDA Health Booth - you know, the booth set up so that young women with eating disorders would have a place to go for help..in front of everyone in the industry?

Maybe it really is there and I’ve just walked by, but if that is indeed the case, then again, what the hell is the point of it?

I have to be very honest here - I have always felt that contemporary lines should not show during fashion week, that they dilute what is special about runway shows; that runway should be reserved for more theatrical pieces shown on dazzling sets, etc…

However, after working in the industry for a while now, I have not only come to accept the inclusion of contemporary collections, but truly appreciate their presence at fashion week. After all, the contemporary collections are the ones we’ll actually be wearing.

I barely made it to the tents in time for Abaeté’s Spring 09 Collection on Saturday, but did thanks to one slightly crazy driver who nearly ran over a film crew. My first ‘real job’ was at Abaeté (I was there for over 3 years handling the pr and marketing) and so this line, designer Laura Poretzky, and all of the amazing people there will always be very, very dear to me.

For Spring 09, Poretzky was inspired by the dichotomy of the two sides of a woman: the good and the bad. She also looked at clothing from the inside out and paid close attention to underpinnings (lingerie, girdles, netting, etc). The bad girl, according to Poretzky, is celebrated with bondage-tight black jersey pieces, corseted details, and peek-a-boo netting. The girl girl, with ultra feminine, flirty bows and a pretty pastel palate (which was inspired by summers spent in France).

Because I’ve been through so many seasons with Abaeté, I probably view the shows a little bit differently than other people do, paying special attention to all of the people in the audience (like Neiman Marcus’ Ken Downing and ELLE’s Kate Lanphear), the new collection of footwear for Payless (which is always good) - and then of course to the clothing! All of the pieces in yellow and a sheer blue striped silk were super pretty and the I loved the more dramatic make-up and swept back hair this season. Her blouses and top were also quite strong, but the bike shorts, layering of tops, and use of tights in a few of the looks were a bit much. An overtly sporty departure for Poretzky, but still a collection true to her signature feminine aesthetic.

My top picks from Abaeté’s Spring 09 Collection? The trench in look 14 was ridiculously chic, look 21 was perfect amounts of sweet and sexy, both the bowed white/blue swim suit and the yellow one with corseted details were gorgeous, and the yellow one strap dress would look fantastic in an episode of Gossip Girl (and I mean this in a good way).

Right after the lights went back up at Abaeté, I ran out of the tents and straight into a cab to rush over to the ADAM by Adam Lippes Spring 2009 Collection Show. The show was set to take place in the garden of the New York Theological Seminary, but was moved inside a gorgeous Gothic church due to the looming rain storm.

For his spring 09 collection, Lippes was inspired by color, ease, and MoMA’s Color Chart exhibition months earlier. The first few looks were sent out with loose knit hats embellished with big studs that looked hideous in person, but once the hats were gone, things started looking better. There was bright pink, vibrant yellow, electric blue, lots of white and black too. My favorite look was the last one (especially the amber silk georgette floor-length shirt dress) and it was great seeing Siri walk.

After the show I walked in the pouring rain for blocks, practically ruining a pair of satin Celine peep-toe pumps. Needless to say that by the time I got home I was hating on fashion week and swore off going to any parties I had RSVP’d to for the evening. Of course I ended up going out later that evening (and had a great time), but it took watching Margaret Cho and eating couple slices of pizza to get me back in the mood.

Click below to see more images from Abaeté and ADAM by Adam Lippes including links to their full runway collctions.

The Shows:
Abaeté
ADAM by Adam Lippes
Christian Cota
Malandrino
Tony Cohen
Brian Reyes
Carlos Miele
Jen Kao
Nuj Novakhett
FORM

The Places:
Stanton Social
Catch 22
The Box
Brother Jimmy
French Embassy

Fashion week doesn’t officially begin until Friday, September 5th, but some designers are jumping the gun and presenting collections today…in fact, this afternoon I’m looking forward to a showing of Nuj Novakhett, an adorable line of wearable contemporary RTW, and will give you my take on their Spring 09 collection this evening.

I’ll also be writing more about what goes on behind the scenes during fashion week (hair, makeup, castings, the different venues, styling), and how it really all works, but if you need a fashion fix right now, read the article below which I originally wrote for Iconique.com back in 2005. I found it the other day and thought it would be fun to share with you. It’s a little silly, but I hope you enjoy it!

Behind New York Fashion Week
(and the rules for making it stylishly into the tents)

There is never a better time to observe the style efforts of others than during fashion week. The city and every fashionista in it morph into 16 year old girls shopping on 5th avenue for the first time…excited, nervous, and filled with such high expectations that are bound to be slightly let down in some way or another by the reality of it all.

For people working in the industry, fashion week is hell week; a week of many long nights, followed by mornings of grainy coffee in stained mugs. The design teams frantically make last minute alterations and sometimes even add pieces to their collections the day before the show as they continue to edit and re-edit everything. PR people work on their press/socialite/celebrity invitees, making sure that their seating assignments won’t offend too many people and that their front rows will look at least as good as the presented collections. Sales teams call, email, call, mail, call, stalk, and call buyers and store owners in hopes of setting up buying appointments for the next few weeks while purses are still full and money is waiting to be burned.

The modeling agents seem to be on two calls at every given moment, talking to both the client, negotiating terms, payment and scheduling, and to the models, tracking them down and changing their schedules from one minute to the next. The models (who may very well be only fourteen and speak little or no English) run frantically from one casting to the next while squeezing in fittings and trying to navigate around New York City.

But while the week is hell for the design houses and event firms, it can also be a huge headache for those attending the shows.