The Anna Wintour seal of approval is more elusive than catching a model feeding in her natural environment. At the BCBG Max Azria show in the main tent at Bryant Park on Friday, the Vogue editor-in-chief was seated quietly in the front row with a scrum of assistants towards the end of the first runway. (After all were seated, in came preggo Nicole Richie, surrounded by security wearing an oversized flowing sequined dress.)

Models emerged for their walk around the double U-shaped runway and Wintour’s head turned to glance at Max and wife Lubov’s designs. If she liked the oufit, her eyes—hidden behind dark black shades as always—followed the models as they made the bend around the center aisle. If she didn’t, the pout on her face intensified and she stared straight ahead, waiting for the next flowing gown to emerge. The ratio of pouts to pleasure was about equal.
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Yesterday outside the tents, we caught up with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals senior campaign coordinator Matt Rice, who was handing out anti-fur materials with a “sexy policewoman” (get it, the Fashion Police, ho ho ho). We wondered who’d be getting pies to the mug this week, but Mr. Rice was tight-lipped: “I can’t give away all our secrets just yet!”

He did share that one of PETA’s big targets at the moment is British fashion behemoth Burberry (not showing this week), which “continues to sell fur despite the fact that we met with them months ago and showed them video footage of how animals are bludgeoned to death and skinned alive for their fur,” he said. Michael Kors and Max Azria are also on the PETA persona non grata list. Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, and the Gap, on the other hand, have all sworn off fur, he said.

Of perennial PETA target Anna Wintour, Mr. Rice said: “It doesn’t take a creative genius to rip the skin off an animal and dress somebody like a caveman. Editors who still use real fur are a dying breed. The younger generation is largely opposed to it.”

The “sexy policewoman” look was in fact not sexy at all, but otherwise, we were in agreement.  read more »

Erin Fetherston, statuesque designer of feminine frocks (and the next high-end designer to hit a Target near you), attracted a sizeable portion of the Vogue masthead to her show at Bryant Park on Wednesday Senior market editor Meredith Melling Burke teetered precariously on the highest sparkling gold platform stripper-shoes we have ever seen, but still managed to look like a sweet little school girl, hawking T-shirts for a good cause—we’re not quite sure which—to the crowd in the front row. Also spotted were socialite Lauren Davis; actresses Brittany Snow and Zooey Deschanel,;and “It” models Agyness Deyn (resplendent in hot pink), and Irina Lazareanu, who wore what looked to be snow boots. (Since when do models not walking in a show qualify as front-row celebrities?)

The lights went down. Anna Wintour donned her sunglasses. Ms. Fetherston’s soft-colored suits and shirts channeled Working Girl, but were paired with Arden-Wohl-like white headbands that progressed into turban territory and beyond. One poor girl lost a massive white chunk heel halfway down the runway. She walked on her toe the rest of the way.

Backstage, Lyndell Mansfeld, a stylist at Bumble & Bumble, was overseeing the mannequins’ hair. “[Erin’s] girls are always kind of beautiful, princessy, fairy, mermaidy, ethereal… they look like good girls, but really they’re quite cheeky,” said Ms. Mansfeld, also known as “Pinky” because of her dyed pink ‘do. “We’ve had a lot of cloneys going on,” she continued. “You know, everyone was getting a fierce bob cut, and everyone was getting bangs cut, and it was like, ‘Ok, cut your hair off!’ So this season we’re going to go back to having our individual freedom.” Phew!