New York Fashion Week: More Browsing, Less Buying

February 16, 2009 at 12:46 PM | by egw | 0 Comments

The bankers from whose coffers designer clothing is bought may have lost their jobs, but the show must go on at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York -- and at least for now, no one is staying away, even if the clothes aren't as butterfly-vivid as before.

Fashion research firm Pantone announced the official color of fashion week was "iron," a grayish-brown they found in almost one in every six collections being put on. Some designers countered allegations of insensitive frivolity in this climate with toned-down looks, the kind women might actually wear straight off the runway. That meant black turtlenecks at DKNY, brightly colored accent pieces (to mix and match with what you already own) at Diane von Furstenberg and lots of dull grays in the Calvin Klein men's collection.

Popular shows so far have included Saturday's Barbie show (commemorating the 50th anniversary of the doll, which was given out to attendees) and Friday's presentation by Jason Wu, whose white beaded concoction Michelle Obama wore to the inaugural balls last month. Serial-show stars like Mischa Barton and Kimora Lee Simmons made no attempt to hide that they were still looking, but they're not the ones who are buying those designer pieces anyway. The real test of whether the recession has affected fashion will come in the showrooms.

Fall 2009 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week continues through Friday the 20th in New York, and if you don't have an invite, we can't help you get one.

Related Stories:
· New York Fashion Week tones it down [LA Times]
· Fashion Week Fall '09: Ready to Wear [Newsday.com]
· Michelle Obama effect' hits New York fashion week [Telegraph]

[Photo of the Robert Geller runway, Fall '09: whiteframesnyc]

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