The force that is Karl Lagerfeld powers through Chanel’s preshow prep like a black-clad dervish with a powdered ponytail throwing out new ideas. This season: camellias and double-Cs on the carousel, not on the girls.

Some designers relish the postshow happy lap. Others can barely be coaxed to wave. A lexicon of farewells.

Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquière sharpened every idea he touched, starting with the little black dress.

Why is it worth organizing our Spring Fashion issue around the seemingly very basic idea of color?

Dandies, both of them: our cover model, André Benjamin and Sir Paul Smith, our profile subject.

Alber Elbaz hit every mark with his spring Lanvin collection.

Fashion changes. Heard that before? Every six months, it’s a designer’s job to satisfy our hungry eyes with some kind of newness.

New York's Fashion Week may be a foggy memory of feathers, hats, and sequins, but we're still sifting through the looks. We combed hundreds of shows to find fall 2007's ten biggest trends, from silhouettes to shoes. Now you just have to find somewhere to wear them.

The real story is the clothes, especially pretty this season, and promising, even in these gray days, that sunshine and soft breezes are on their way, as surely as dessert follows dinner.

In our second men’s fashion section, trend followers will notice that formal, layered dressing continues to be the prime directive.