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April 29, 2008 Issue
Cover Story
New York Look: Fall 2008
Fashion has always been an industry that champions the singular: the one designer whom all others appear to emulate; the individual model who epitomizes contemporary beauty. But as much as the fashion world loves to single out, it also loves the blurry, unfocused excitement of the collections. The fall 2008 collections were filled with ideas both promising and worrying, unifying and contradictory, inspired and exhausting.
JOURNAL
The Surroundings
Sometimes preshow tension gets so thick in the photographers’ stands that fights break out over who sits and stands where.
Hello, I Must Be Going
Some designers relish the postshow happy lap. Others can barely be coaxed to wave. A lexicon of farewells.
Cathy Horyn to Fashion Shows: Drop Dead
The most powerful fashion critic in the world thinks eliminating the runways, and even her job, wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
This Year's Girl
Model Ali Stephens out-walked the competition.
Four Other Faces
These dewy-faced eye-catchers were the most favored of fall.
Everybody Does Go-Sees
Not everybody makes it. Forty runway candidates audition for casting agent James Scully.
Chanel Iman Grows Up
The ambitious model is in the tricky transitional phase between "rising star" and "established face."
I Wear Size Zero
Spindle legs, visible ribs, toothpick arms. This is the new male ideal? Somewhere, Hedi Slimane is smiling.
Load the Dishwasher. Dress the Model.
The last few hours before Maria Cornejo’s show are not, by any stretch of the imagination, glamorous.
Better Fun Than Yours
London’s Fashion Week is disorganized, late, and raucous. More Champagne, please!
Behind Every Great Designer
By knowing just where to put a brooch, Katie Grand glosses a designer’s collection.
First Lunch, Then Fashion
Hollywood stylist turned designer L’Wren Scott doesn’t need 400 people at her show.
The Hair Kinda Floated
A coiffure-meister’s thought process.
A Very Furry Season
Some mink and fox is typical for fall. This time, it was more than some.
DOCUMENTARY
Sideshows
Magnum photographer Christopher Anderson captures the weeks' gorgeous moments.
REPORT
The Takeaway
Even after the models have changed into jeans, the tents have been disassembled, and the designers have left, a fashion show doesn’t really end.
“I Love Fashion!” “I Love the Girl!”
The force that is Karl Lagerfeld powers through Chanel’s preshow prep like a black-clad dervish.
Halston, Designer
Harold Koda explains the design legacy of a man more known for his Studio 54 time.
The Show of the Season
Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquière sharpened every idea he touched, starting with the little black dress.
Meryl Streep at Baby Phat?
Some celebrity-and-designer front-row matchups work to everybody’s disadvantage.
Runway Slideshows
Trend Mash-up
Wearable soufflés, logic-defying hats, attention-grabbing legwear, and more.
Oh My Goth
Head-to-toe black, trailing lace, ominous accessories.
Furrr!
Everywhere the same message: plush and plusher.
This Is Not Breakfast at Tiffany’s
In a season of rethought classics, the little black dress comes back.
The Tuxedo Develops
New proportions (short or long jackets) and materials refresh the androgynous favorite.
The White Shirt Advances
In its new incarnation, the white shirt loses all prior associations.
The Bronze Age Begins
Fall’s metallics glow dimly, not with Vegas glare.
Just Because It's Lace...
... doesn’t mean it’s fussy.
Even Microtrends Matter
Not every idea is destined to dominate.
Jump in the Leaf Pile
Fall’s colors sound like a walk through the woods in October.
The Party Moves
Sparkly surfaces put pants into contention for most favored eveningwear consideration.
Men Will Mix It Up
Maybe not every guy will rush to add a fluffy fur coat to the closet, but the option is there.
The English Dandy Rocked
Velvet suits cut narrow conjured the country gentleman who’s been listening to Exile on Main St.
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