All stories about "Fashion Week"

We're not sure how we overlooked this: during Fashion Week, drugstore chain Duane Reade launched a reusable eco-tote designed by Alvin Valley. At the time, the bag was only available at three stores, but now, in honor of Earth Month, they'll be offering the "Use It, Don't Abuse It" bag at 41 stores citywide. Is it worth the $14.99 cost? Judge for yourself by watching the above video, a look at the tote at its unveiling that's pleasantly set to the tune of Bill Withers' "Lovely Day."
· Duane Reade Expands Availability of Fashionable Alvin Valley Eco-Tote in Celebration of Earth Month [PRNewswire]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Already in full force on the other side of the world in Hong Kong, it appears the UFO-like Chanel Mobile Art Container will crash land somewhere in New York in September 2008, just in time for Fashion Week. The conceptual lovechild of Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld and architect Zaha Hadid was called a "very elaborate Chanel commercial" by the IHT, but Racked's own first-hand sources didn't mind the commercialism as much as the drone-like rigidity of the tour and the confusing, contradictory messages found in the art—one being the tragedy of making bags out of animal skin, followed by glorification of the leather 2.55 Chanel purse. Speaking of the 2.55, IHT reports further that Chanel is offering the iconic bag in a special Mobile Art edition for $3,000. But that's not the only way Chanel is cashing in...

This is a joke, right? We're assuming so. Gothamist, on the other hand, is taking it seriously.
· Orange Bikes [YouTube]

Today's Street Scenes subject is Kathryn, shot in the tents in Bryant Park. Feel free to vote on whether you like or dislike her outfit—your choices are 'Perfection!,' I feel strangely ambivalent about it,' or 'Who Did This To You.'

[Photo by Krieger]

Kathryn, aka The Budget Fashionista, is wearing a Calvin Klein coat from TJ Maxx, a blouse from Nordstrom, Old Navy jeans, Aerosoles shoes, a Kooba bag and her grandmother's vintage pearls. Her favorite store is TJ Maxx.

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More Street Scenes

More on Marc Jacobs
· Clothes "better seen than described" [The Shophound]
· Bad news: Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore didn't get a goody bag [The Cut]
· Jacobs didn't play it safe; was "gutsy" [NY Times]
· Performance by Sonic Youth was a bit distracting [GlamChic]

Odds and Ends
· The mystery of Prince Williams explained [NY Times]
· All that money spent on the shows? Totally worth it [UnBeige]

· The show was awesome [The Shophound]
· Lil’ Kim really loved it [The Moment]
· Scandal: Rachel Zoe was late! [The Cut]
· Posh also showed up for the occasion [Fashionista]
· If you didn't attend, you can check out all the looks here [The Fashion Informer]

It's hard to sort through the hundreds of looks coming down the runway this season. That's why Racked has partnered with the editors at Lucky Magazine, who are here to help pinpoint fall's best new trends; to follow, a peek at what you'll be coveting come August.

Snap via Lucky

1) Stella McCartney pre-fall (pictured): "Everything was so cool and beautiful—I literally wanted to wear it all."

2) Fitted jacket, floaty dress: "One of my favorite styling tips came from the 3.1 Phillip Lim show, where this fitted leather jacket was thrown over a diaphanous, bohemian dress. It's a look that's girly but just a little bit tough..."

· Lucky Hits New York Fashion Week [Lucky Mag]

· The show was a mob scene [FabSugar]
· Rami's dresses beautiful and drapey, obvs [The Haute List]
· While Chris' featured yak-hair sleeves [Jezebel]
· Ricky is a crybaby. Really. [The Transom]
· OMG Jillian looked adorbs in her knit dress [ShopDiary]
· Oh, and Sweet P was there too [Blogging Project Runway]
· Surprise: Posh judged the finale [GlamChic]

Today's Street Scenes subject is Roshumba, shot in the tents in Bryant Park. Feel free to vote on whether you like or dislike her outfit—your choices are 'Perfection!,' I feel strangely ambivalent about it,' or 'Who Did This To You.'

[Photo by Krieger]

Roshumba is wearing a Tibi dress, Louboutins and Judith Ripka jewels.

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· Phillip Lim's 3.1 collection includes power suits for real ladies [WSJ]
· Pretty people hold each other backstage at Lim [NY Post]
· Model down!: Karen Elson trips at Posen [The Cut]
· ...she laughed it off like a pro, though [The Moment]

It's the last day of Fashion Week! While we do a little jig, enjoy our recaps of the most recent shows.

[At left, Michael Kors; at right, Marchesa. Photos via]

Michael Kors' fall collection was a throwback to the well-dressed women of the 1950's. He paired pencil skirts with little cashmere sweaters, and polished the looks with skinny belts and thick tortoiseshell eyeglasses. The knockout collection incorporated a color palette unlike any we've seen so far at Fashion Week: violet and lilac were mixed with olive, camel, rich browns and grays. PETA, however, will not be pleased with everybody's favorite Project Runway personality: nearly every piece was accented with a fur collar, featured a mink stole, or was finished with a full-on fur coat.
· Photos of Michael Kors [Coutorture]

We thought by now we'd definitely be over Marchesa's Grecian-styled gowns and huge signature organza floral adornments. But after seeing their fall collection, we're not tired of them at all—in fact, we love them more than ever. Designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig did not so much recycle their well-known looks as strengthen them. Their gorgeous flowing gowns and glamorous minis were more assertive than past collections. It's not easy making a woman look empowered while wearing a hyperfeminine dress with ten million ruffles or roses attached to it, but Marchesa achieves this delicate balance.
· Photos of the Marchesa show [Style.com]

· Superskinny male models stealing lady models' bony, emaciated spotlight [NY Times]
· Only reedy types look good in VPL's more-exposed styles [The Moment]
· Manly male models slimmed by Rock & Republic's noir suiting [Haute Concept]
· Tiny women bought all of Halston's smallest sizes on Net-a-porter [Fashion Inc.]

Yesterday, we showed you the famous and fabulous that traipse around Bryant Park during Fashion Week. Today, a look at some of the event's other attendees.

· Oscar de la Renta elegant and surprisingly wearable [The Daily Obsession]
· Check out Narciso Rodriguez for "cool girls wearing cool clothes" [The Moment]
· Conservatively sassy Michael Kors perfect for theoretical first ladies [GlamChic]
· "Mad Men" inspires Marchesa, Michael Kors; may be culprit for whole polished retro career gal trend [WWD, subscription req]

Today's Street Scenes subject is Emily, shot in the tents in Bryant Park. Feel free to vote on whether you like or dislike her outfit below—your choices are 'Perfection!,' I feel strangely ambivalent about it,' or 'Who Did This To You.'

[Photo by Krieger]

Emily's entire outfit is from something called the Creatrix Method line.

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Photo of orange DKNY bike in Williamsburg via TrespassersWill

Though many of the neon-orange bikes placed around town by fashion brand DKNY as part of some hair-brained marketing scheme have been carted off by police or removed by angry New Yorkers, a few remain. Roving Racked photog Will Femia spotted one just two days ago locked down outside the Bedford Avenue train station at North 7th Street where, he writes, "You may recall they recently widened the sidewalk to put in more bike parking." As is visible in the photo, many Brooklynites take advantage of the parking area—we're sure that DKNY's placement of a piece of advertising in one of those fought-over spaces didn't endear them any further to the already-offended biking population.
· Seemingly Innocuous DKNY Marketing Effort Manages to Offend Many [Racked]

It's hard to sort through the hundreds of looks coming down the runway this season. That's why Racked has partnered with the editors at Lucky Magazine, who are here to help pinpoint fall's best new trends; to follow, a peek at what you'll be coveting come August.

1) Statement-making accessories (at right): "Bright, bold details were the real stand-outs at Tory Burch's ultra-cool presentation at Christie's. I thought [the] giant gemstone cuffs and chunky necklaces were especially great.."

2) Glimmery tights: "They're a little glitzy, obviously, but in muted gray and paired with all-black ensembles, they looked glamorously party-perfect."

3) White dresses with black tights: As seen at Karen Walker paired with brown accessories.

4) Retroish scarf tricks: "Instead of just wrapping a scarf around my neck, I'll be keeping cozy by draping one around my head like they did at the Charlotte Ronson show. I think it looks unbelievably ladylike and romantic..."

· Lucky Hits New York Fashion Week [Lucky Mag]

Photo credit

UPPER WEST SIDE—Important Payless news, from a reader: "Was in my local Payless (Broadway between 93 and 94) yesterday and noticed that they’ve started getting in the Alice & Olivia designs (pictured) as well as the new Lela Rose and Abaete designs for spring. The Alice & Olivia shoes are cute, but look way too similar to a Lela Rose design (you can see them all at Payless.com). In addition, the website says these designs won’t be available until 2/12, but they’re already available online." [RackedWire Inbox]

BRYANT PARK—This isn't breaking, but would it kill someone at Fashion Week to put out some recycling bins? We'd like to think that the industry is somewhat concerned with eco-friendliness, but all those free plastic Evian mini-bottles are going straight in the trash. [Racked Staff Rant]

· Weak dollar good for designers like Marc who manufacture in US [Fashion Inc.]
· Rumor: M.I.A. might DJ Marc's after party Friday [Fashionista]
· Slideshow overload: Marc by Marc, Halston, Rodarte and more [The Moment]
· Marc Jacobs can't think about the whole world during Fashion Week! He's making fashion! [WSJ]

What would Fashion Week be without celebs? Sans star power, it'd resemble a reaaaly long commercial in physical form with a good soundtrack and great clothes. Thankfully, the A, B, C and D-listers have shown themselves this time 'round. And if that's not enough to get your heart pumping, the genetic abnormalities known as models are just everywhere. We spotted both species navigating the park behind the tents this morning; click through our photogallery for the images.

Following a month-long renovation, the adidas Originals store in Soho reopened this week with—shocker!—a Fashion Week party to celebrate the occasion. The Wooster Street shop was remodeled with an atelier concept in mind. The party also debuted adidas Originals Denim by Diesel, a collaboration between the sportswear giant and denim brand. The jeans come in two styles and four different washes for both men and women, and prices range from $160 to $210. Celebs including Brittany Murphy and Leigh Lezark showed up, but, really, what Fashion Week party hasn't Leigh attended so far? The former Misshape is lovely, but she'll show up to the opening of an envelope!
· adidas Originals Stripped Bare in Soho [Racked]