Over the summer, Council of Fashion Designers of America president Diane von Furstenberg sent letters to Fashion Week designers beseeching them to start their shows on time this fall, rather than offer the traditional wait of 40 to 45 minutes.

Ms. von Furstenberg’s edict—coupled with Marc Jacobs’ shocking, almost arrogantly prompt 20-minutes-late start last season, following criticism levied at his more-than-two-hours-tardy start a year ago—raised the possibility of a seismic shift in Fashion Week start times.

Alas, it hasn’t occurred. The Yigal Azrouel show in Chelsea on Friday, Sept. 5, was scheduled for noon, but the lights went down at 12:34. At Rag & Bone later that day, opening model Sasha Pivovarova stalked angrily down the catwalk at 4:36 p.  read more »

When I was young and wild and kooky, I always imagined that I would grow old gracefully. I saw myself sitting contentedly in a rattan peacock chair—looking like a cross between Quentin Crisp and Golda Meier—dispensing bon mots to a group of rosy-cheeked acolytes clustered at my feet. Attired in naff sweats and polar fleece, I would reminisce about my long-lost fashion heyday.  read more »

Maybe it was the rain, which had soaked through coats and leather boots, causing a vaguely earthy smell to permeate the packed bleachers at Cipriani 42nd Street; or perhaps it was bronzed, shiny supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who—exhausted from sucking all the life essence from New England Patriot Tom Brady?—didn’t walk the runway, but took a seat beside actress Julianne Moore just before the lights went down; or maybe it was just that it was Friday night, and there was a bar.  read more »