Talk of the Tents

The Greening Of The Tents: Fashion loves causes, and if there is a cause du jour, it would be the green movement. Beauty brand Aveda, which has been seriously into environmentalism way before it became chic, has taken fashion’s hottest trend backstage to big shows -- Rag & Bone, Thakoon, Rodarte and Phillip Lim -- and figured out a way to create awareness and make it fun. The brand’s photographers will arrive via skateboard rather than in fume-producing cars, backstage bites for models, makeup artists and production staff will be organic, invitations and show notes will be printed on recycled paper and non-toxic aluminum water bottles filled with NYC tap water and emblazoned with the slogan, “Beauty is as Beauty Does,” will replace wasteful plastic. One small step for fashion …. – Anne Bratskeir

Invitations to fashion shows during the big week often start to tell the story of the collections before you get to them. Take the lush fleur-de-lis pattern on Nicole Miller’s mustardy green card– we’ll be expecting to see some of that on her pretty dresses. Or Donna Karan’s streamlined horizontal invite for DKNY – a dark black ground shot with neon fuchsia…we predict some serious pops of color.

Then, of course, there’s Kimora Lee Simmons’ Baby Phat invite…a gigantic paper ring made up of dozens of diamonds, because that’s one lady who believes that fashion don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that bling.

– Anne Bratskeir

Models do their final walk at the much-delayed Marc Jacobs Spring 2008 show.

All right, folks!

Fashion Week is back for another season and amNewYork will be right there bringing you Talk of the Tents, celebrity interviews, clothes and puh-lenty of footage from the shows.

Last season we captured Marc Anthony's musings on life with J. Lo., Marc Jacobs' tardiness issues, Betsey Johnson's cartwheel technique and Jenna Jameson's designer fitting.

We're caffeinated, limber and ready to wait in line for hours to keep you posted on all that Fashion Week has to offer.

Stay tuned!

— Korin Miller

A word from Naomi Campbell to designers:

“Women of color are not a trend. That’s the bottom line. Fashion needs to go back to the way it used to be when wonderful designers like Yves St. Laurent, Gianni Versace and [Azzedine] Alaia just had a great lineup of beautiful women – white, black, Chinese, Hispanic.”

“I support Bethann with this initiative 100 percent and I’m trying to keep it moving and keep the consciousness growing.”

Campbell, who says she’s “disgusted and sad about the whole issue,” is doing her part with her own personal boycott of designers who don’t include women of color or are guilty of tokenism. Though she won’t disclose names, she says one design house refused her clothes because they said, “We already dress Beyonce.”

Says the supermodel, “I’ve taken it on myself to never wear that designer – it’s such an ignorant thing to say.”

Similarly, there’s another European designer that she won’t wear because they don’t use women of color in the shows.

As for the right here, right now of Fashion Week which opens at Bryant Park on Friday, well, we won’t get the thrill of seeing Miss Naomi on any catwalk at all.

“Nope, I’m not even coming and I haven’t been asked. I love it and miss it, but understand this, it doesn’t have to be me. It has to be amazing women of color.”

– Anne Bratskeir

[Be sure to click here for all of amNewYork's, and click here to see all of Newsday's, coverage of Fashion Week--with live blogging for all the important/funny/surprising moments from the tents, hundreds of photos from each designer's runway shows, and video highlights of all the top collections.]

Ain't this some serious yang!

I just did a little Googling to see where and when the Heatherette show was going down this season.

Much to my dismay, the Daily News reported that the Fall 2008 Heatherette show was canceled, as the designers cited financial concerns.

In a word, that really sucks.

OK, that was three words, but whatever. How could the people at IMG let this happen? Seriously, is there anything more enjoyable than watching these lovable nutjobs prance their crazy,hallucinogenic creations down an insanely colored runway while every drag queen in New York City rocks a front row seat?

Not sure I'll ever forget the dude in the crowd at the Fall 2007 Heatherette show who wore one top hat, one tuxedo shirt, one apron, two shoes and zero pants! Ridiculous. Hilarious.

The folks who cover this fashion stuff for a living have likened their shows to performance art. Me? I just call it the best hour of the entire week. It's Willy Wonka on steroids.

- Mark La Monica