FASHION Week is here. Sort of. While pret-a-porter is usually a season ahead of mainstream culture, this season finds some Bizarro World version of the big biannual wallowing in the same murky economic waters of every other industry. Sure, there’s lots of capes and tights, but no heroes to save the day.
The big Marc Jacobs party that everyone always talks about? Not happening. John Varvatos’ bash in the old CBGB space where Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro rocked last season? “Jane Says” nada. And the lavish Betsey Johnson jamboree where the cartwheeling designer has been known to swing suspended from the ceilings of clubs like Lotus? Not only has that party been nixed, but Lotus was recently deep-sixed, too.
As for the sponsorships, the current crop of beer and fast-food labels look like they belong at Talladega, not Bryant Park. And weirdest yet, the most sought-after front-row guest is not Anna Wintour but a shopkeeper from Chicago, of all places.
Fasten your seat belts – it’s going to be a frumpy week.