Who’s Ready to Talk Fall Collections?

Though a few hardened fashion reporters took advantage of the crowd to get their books signed (Jim Shi, we’re looking at you) at the party for the CFDA’s 50th anniversary and the publication American Fashion at Bergdorf Goodman, most people expended their energy tracking cocktails and hors d’oeuvre. Designers also reveled in the memory of the days they got off between their shows and starting in on fall collections. “I water-skied all weekend after my show,” said Nicole Miller, who was so chill that by 8:15 she hadn’t even begun to make a move toward the tents for Zac Posen’s eight o’clock show. (A wise move, it turned out, since the show started late enough for the photographers in the pit to start chanting in protest.)

Phillip Lim spent his running around the park with his dog; he was feeling rather sorry for himself, since he puts out a summer line and is going to be stuck in New York instead of running off to Europe with the rest of the gang. Michael Kors ate a big pancake breakfast and got a massage and pedicure, in addition to making plans for a few days at the beach before Europe. He wasn’t worried about the fall slog ahead; in fact, he’d already gotten started. “I’m the Energizer Bunny,” he said. “We spend so much time working on things that by the time the show comes, I’m kind of like, ‘I’m ready to do the show and move onto the next.’” But, having seen a lot of the spring collections, he was worried about an unforeseen logistical problem in the tents next season. “It’s going to be interesting with millinery coming back,” he said. “If all the women wear as many hats as we showed, we’re going to have a very different audience situation. I think there will be a lot of ducking through crowds. No one will be able to see the runway from their seats. But everyone will look divine!” —Jada Yuan