Fashion Week Is Coming! Fashion Week Is Coming!

It was the night before New York Fashion Week started, and all through the house... Anna was so effing excited!

That's me, being effing excited!

I love this shot from the New York Times today of the pre-show start photo shoot by Patrick Demarchelier in front of the Bryant Park tents. It juices me up for the festivities. Of course, you can count on I Want To Wear It. to bring you all of the up to the minute coverage of all of the fun, feathers, fur, ferocity, fedoras, fans, famousness, Ferraris, and ferrets. All of it. Right here. Starting with tomorrow's huge 5-borough-wide partay hosted by Anna Wintour, Fashion's Night Out.

I'm personally heading over to Opening Ceremony for their block party that will feature the work of my fashion fetishes, The Mulleavy Sisters, as well as Alexander Wang and other designers. But, if you'd rather ogle MK and A, Zac Posen, Victoria Beckham, and ALT, you can head on over to Bergdorf's uptown. Or, get a lip reading by Poppy King the Lipstick Queen at Barneys, or you can see a Little Red Riding Hood recreation put together by Grace Coddington at Prada. Oh dear, if only I could clone myself a couple Annas. There's so much to do! Listen, tomorrow you will be golden no matter where you are! It's gonna be a blast. You should wear good shoes (walkable people, no sky high stilettos!) and be prepared to make the rounds. I can't wait!

Check out the official Fashion's Night Out schedule here.

CFDA Wrap-up: Runners-Up

Mi favorita female design duo not named Kate and Laura Mulleavy, Vena Cava, received a $50,000 runner-up prize at last night's CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards. The forces behind the line--Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai--were rightfully shown a little appreciation for their beautiful, romantic designs that have thrilled fashion fans for the past few years. Here they talk to Nylon Magazine about their most recent Egyptomania collection for Spring/Summer '09:

The "which Olsen are you?" question makes ya think, doesn't it?

Native South African milliner Albertus Swanepoel also received a $50,000 prize for his heads-above-the-rest hat designs. He's collaborated with designers like Thakoon Panichgul and the Proenza Schouler duo. Here are two Swanepoel creations:


And here are all of the CFDA winners lined up in a row:

Just like lucky ducks. Left to right: Alexander Wang, Lisa Mayock, Sophie Buhai, and Albertus Swanepoel.

All images Style.com

CFDA Wrap-up: Alexander the Great

The simultaneously cutest and fiercest designer fashion has at the moment, Alexander Wang, conquered the competition last night at the 2008 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards. He took home the big prize of $200,000 and a full year of mentoring. That cash is a king's ransom for a young designer in these tough times, and Wang deserves the gift. He's nearly a child prodigy. At 24 Wang has already been designing and holding fashion shows for almost a decade. So, don't let his babyface fool you; he's a fashion force to be reckoned with. Here's footage of Wang's most recent runway show for Spring/Summer '09. I love his tough girl chic aesthetic.


Congrats, Mr. Wang! Don't spend all of your money in one place (I figure you're still young and impressionable enough to require a little motherly advice...).

Image: Sheryl Rabbani and Josephine Selimene for Style.com

New York Wrap-Up

Every fashion week there are a few overly prevalent looks that make me curious as to where exactly the bunker is located in which head designers meet to agree on what they will send down the runway. I picture top secret codes, fake mustaches, and exchanges of "on my honor" oaths that each adhere to the prescribed trends, or else. I'm convinced that this is the way it's done. How else to explain the ever-present twist hem line that popped up everywhere? It's not the most common cut, and yet strikingly similar versions of it made many appearances.

l to r: Alexander Wang, BCBG


l to r: Donna Karan, Matthew Williamson

Um? Awkward.

Note to designers: When your bag-of-bones models look like two-ton-tillies marching down the runway, something's wrong. If the dress doesn't flatter the world's most gorgeous girls, there's no hope for the female population at large and someone should have edited it out of the collection. Here's a sampling of cringe-worthy wares that should have been left backstage (like Alexandre Herchcovitch's frilly frock pictured above).


Alexander Wang goes wide




Costello Tagliapietra get my award for most awkward show. Black leather and picnic prints? Fuchsia and mauve with suspenders? It was a parade of misfits from the misfits. But, as the consolation prize, I offer them the award for cutest design couple. I hope that makes them feel better.