Quotes of the Day

Women designing for women was a strong theme on day five of New York Fashion Week. Designers including Monique L'Huillier, Georgina Chapman and runway newcomer Karen Craig of Marchesa trained their eyes on the celebs who wear their clothes (and sit front row at their shows), such as Sarah Michelle Geller and Mischa Barton, with lots of light airy goddess dresses. Or, in the case of Marchesa, several short puff ball dresses in cotton candy colors.

	Kate Betts dishes the dirt on the new lineup for spring • The Three D's of Fashion For designers like Diane Von Furstenberg and Thakoon Panichgul, determination equals success- 9/11/06 • The Master of Mood The Marc Jacobs show is about more than clothes. The designer reminds us that we shouldn't take fashion too seriously- 9/12/06 • Dressing like a Goddess Several designers, including some runway rookies, are presenting romantic visions of what women should wear- 9/13/06 • Where Some Designers Get Their Ideas This season collections had a wide range of inspirations, from 18th century painters to 1980s hipsters- 9/14/06 • Signature Looks From Vera Wang's ethereal ready-to-wear layers to Zac Posen's glamourous looks for the red carpet- 9/15/06 • Creating the Mirage Designers Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren have the skills to transport us to exotic locales- 9/16/06
	Current Issue •Photo Essay- How is Fashion Shaping Up? Fur skirts? Winged sleeves? Six-inch platforms? Designers are anything but risk-averse when it comes to leveraging fall style •Who's Got the Power? Fashion designers may get all the glory, but they don't necessarily pull the strings anymore.

Then there's Benhaz Serapfour who gently tweaked her vision of neat, tailored dresses with sparkly gold sequins and a few puff ball skirts. The strongest show came from out-of-towners Kate and Laura Mulleavy who brought their chiffon mille-feuille frocks to New York from Pasadena. These two sisters, who have no formal fashion training but a healthy dose of imagination, presented their first runway show, and their vision, although a bit quirky, was strangely captivating. What all these designers have in common is an airy, romantic notion of what women should wear.

None of this fluffy stuff will pass muster with the guy I consider one of New York's great design talents: Narciso Rodriguez. He has a razor-sharp eye for tailoring and an ability to reinvent so much in terms of how clothes are cut. With innovative fabrics Rodriguez can take something so obvious — like a flowing chiffon goddess gown — and make it look totally new. For spring he added color blocking in tomato red or teal and sent out some beautiful breezy coats in cool lacquered fabrics. Derek Lam is also experimenting with the American sportswear vocabulary, drawing inspiration from such sources as Claire McCardell's popover dress or patchwork quilting.

• Kate Betts
• Several designers, including some runway rookies, are presenting romantic visions of what women should wear