After yesterday’s deluge, Sunday was a remarkably beautiful day - the type any designer presenting next year’s warm weather wardrobe would find an auspicious blessing. It provided the perfect transition into Tracy Reese’s Spring 2009 show, which bursted with flouncy frocks in jovial hues and florals of every variety. The designs for Reese’s new high-end Black Label and her already popular contemporary line were presented in tandem and embodied an artistic, but altogether classically feminine appeal that will please Reese fans and any woman seeking something  to wear something as cheerfully clement as the spring season should be.

As the photos we snapped may suggest, it is clear that Tracy Reese  wants women to dress with exuberance next spring. Featuring every bold and pastel color found in nature, Reese painted her chiffons and georgettes with both impressionistic microflorals and oversized flower prints. Silk paillettes - which are all the rage right now - were incorporated into many of the standout tiered dresses, where they created playful sleeve, neck, and hemlines. The most eye-popping use of the paillettes was on a flamingo pink silk tutu, where the construction resembled - you guessed it - feathers. Smartly paired with a spring green scooped neck blouse, it was the best of the many ensembles Reese created through drawing greenery and floral hues closer together. Silks were sheared for optimum fluttering effect (movement seems to be key to nearly all Spring 2009 collections thus far). Accessories included love beads done as flapper neck chains, the latest of many savvy nostalgic elements Reese procures for her collections.

Reese even had a Balenciaga moment. That of course was when the highlight of the entire show appeared in the form of a sculptural purple and yellow handpainted microfloral bubble dress that gave Ghesquière’s S/S ‘08 structural floral armour an immensely wearable lease on life.  Several impressive trenchcoats also played with form: they were starched stiff and sharp, with collars popped up and back panels folded outward for maximum angular effect. One of these coats was done in a faded gold brocade - surely a Black Label specialty - and featured Swarovski-encrusted embellishment on its lapels and hand-sketched floral details.

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Blair Waldorf Leighton Meester with Julie Haus, Julie’s designs on the runway

Our Friday was literally booked solid with fashion shows, and so by the time Julie Haus‘ mid-afternoon debut runway set was upon us, we were weak, weary, and unfocused. Did we expect this show to mark the highlight of our Fashion Week experience thus far? Not really. But did it? Yes, pretty much! And why? Well, let’s just say it wasn’t the clothes, per se. To be blunt, it was the stars and gift bags that blew our minds. Mostly, it was because we chatted up the legendary Miss Blair Waldorf herself, Leighton Meester about her musical tastes and if she forsees modeling in her future.

While we were served champagne by very cute waiters, we waited for the show to begin. Suddenly, a swarm of paparazzi took command of the room and every fashionista-in-training trembled in her Jimmy Choos, breathless with VIP voyeurism. And what a motley crue it was: Robert Buckley, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Molly Sims and Leighton Meester all arrived heel-to-toe and sent the room into hysterics. While they were being seated, we finally checked out our goodie bags and couldn’t believe our eyes: everyone got a free Nintendo DS Lite. Our brothers will be so jealous. Oh yeah - also included free makeup from The Balm, a Julie Haus belt, and other fashion-friendly goodies. It was by far the best swag bag yet - especially since BCBG’s gift to us was - we kid you not - a tin of mints.

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Spring 2009 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week is well under way, and SASSYBELLA.com are right there in the midst of it, trying assign meaning to all the creativity, confusion, and chaos. Two days in, we’ve got a handful of shows under our belt and some early impressions on what priorities, inspirations, and styles designers have on their agendas for next spring. Madison Avenue relies on Bryant Park’s week long fashion extravaganza to net enormous profits, and even more importantly, to provide an early industry consensus on what luxury means and where it will head in difficult times.

Spring 2009’s reaction to sour times? Narciso Rodriguez hit the nail on the head only days ago: the new concept of luxury entails ease and security in stressful times. We saw several shows yesterday where clothing was designed for maximum convenience and comfort.

BCBG Max Azria, the first major show of the week, unexpectedly shot left field from their usual mainstream maximalist design ideals for Spring 2009 and wowed the front row with an exercise in smart, sophisticated minimalism. The result was universal apparel that ensured commercial appeal and exceeded artistic expectations. An empowering medley of Santogold’s polymorphic pop song’s paved a suitable pop-cultural context for the versatile collection shown on the runway, which found its core inspiration in the place where utility meets urbane sexiness. Asymmetrically draped dresses were breezy and casually luxe - they swung with the slinky ease of jersey done correctly. Max & Lubov Azria - often known to place greater emphais on embellishment than strategic design - this time exemplifed each garment’s structural nuances: imaginative draping, studied slouchy fits, and proportion play impressed celebrity fans and critics alike. A cohesive, well-considered tonal palette of muted whites, greys, and blues was intersected by slashes of fiery orange and pink and cobalt. The collision of hot and cold scintillated.

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While we’re still hoping that we’ll see Gemma Ward on the runway this New York Fashion Week, (which Colleen is happily attending and reporting live from) back in her homeland, she has been named Australian Star of the Year for her performance in The Black Balloon.

The model/actress was named the Australian Star of the Year at the 63rd Australian International Movie Convention’s box office achievement awards in the Gold Coast on Thursday night. Unable to attend, the award was accepted by Tristram Miall, her producer in the movie.

Ward joins the likes of Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush, Abbie Cornish, Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe in the honor of receiving the award given to Australian acting talents.

Then just a day later on the other side of the country, Ward was pipped at the post by Wheels and Doll Baby founder, Melanie Greensmith for the honor of receiving a spot on the Western Australia’s Fashion Walk of Fame!

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We’re up and running! SASSYBELLA.com’s Fashion Week’s started a day early - we attended the premiere of model-turned-designer Abigail Lorick’s Spring 2009 collection today and were dazzled by the brilliantly orchestrated set design and art direction of the the presentation. And oh yes - the clothes are quite lovely, too. Gossip Girl fans - a sizable contingent of Miss Lorick’s clientele - will be pleased to know that next spring’s line will feature plenty of pretty, feminine, confectionery party frocks for Blair Waldorf and those who aspire to be her.

The presentation’s style - possibly usurping the clothing for sheer aesthetic impact - was surprisingly involved and imaginative. Peter Klein, Lorick’s prodigal set designer, converted an unremarkable midtown penthouse loft into a microcosm of fashion fantasy sequences. The official theme and title of Lorick Spring 2009 is “A Room of One’s Own”, which translated into Lorick-clad models situated in seven live action set installations, all linked thematically by artfully disheveled backdrops and a wispy narrative.

From start (a nice, normal sitting room except overflowing with two thousand books) to finish (a very glamorous junkyard), the set designs expressed formal settings gone to seed - each became increasingly cluttered, overgrown, and unmaintained. The standout “room” was arguably the fascinatingly disordered “Cake Coma” kitchen, where stratospheric cakes were mangled (and eaten) by mischievous models. Shattered dishes and bakery crimes aside, the irony and humor of this scene made it the crowd’s favorite.

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Spring 2009 Fashion Week is shaping up to be NYC’s most multicultural and globally minded in years, so it is fitting that that city’s most exciting new high fashion retailer also graces the city from exotic origins. Fashion cognoscenti worldwide are acutely fond of the Hawaiian based luxury boutique, Aloha Rag. Geographical inconvenience never stopped ambitious shoppers from ordering premium, often obscure high-end apparel and accessories directly from AlohaRag.com, but secretly, NYC girls couldn’t understand why a fashion paradise so supreme had to be so achingly abstract and physically inaccessible. Well, hold on to your (Hysteric Glamour) shirts! Aloha Rag quietly invaded the Big Apple several months ago, but is “officially” celebrating its Manhattan debut just in time for Fashion Week! They are kicking off their “grand opening” with a cocktail party on Sunday, September 7th.

Destined to send the entire Bryant Park into a manic fervor, Aloha Rag’s new 505 Greenwich Street mainland flagship store will open its hallowed doors to invited guests at 8 pm - long time A.R. loyalists probably received their e-vites last night (p.s. we got one and may be there!). The evening’s proceedings begin with an exclusive trunk show by the aforementioned cult brand Hysteric Glamour. Also on the agenda: special installations by set designer Anne Koch. H’ors dourves and cocktails follow at critically hip nightclub Don Hills.

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WWD has announced that Phoebe Philo has a new job – creative director of Celine.

The British designer who took over at Chloe from Stella McCartney is set to start her job in October with her first collection for the fashion house the fall-winter 2009.

“By giving her Celine, we’re giving her a platform to express her vision,” Pierre-Yves Roussel, chief executive officer of LVMH’s fashion division told WWD. “For Celine, which is a bit more grown-up as a brand, the fit is very good in terms of her style, her personality and where she is in terms of her own development.”

Get ready for some fabulous accessories – remember it was under Philo’s reign that bags like the Paddington, Silverado, Edith and Bay just to name a few!

Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai of New York City indie design duo Vena Cava will debut their first ever capsule shoe collection in collaboration with Italian luxury house Via Spiga during their eagerly anticipated Spring 2009 ready-to-wear presentation on September 6th at The Chelsea Art Museum. Over the next three seasons, the two design teams will create specialized footwear to fit the thematic and visual mood of each new Vena Cava clothing collection, the presentations of which will be fully sponsored by Via Spiga throughout the cooperative partnership.

After debuting live during Fashion Week, the shoes will be sold at Via Spiga’s forthcoming flagship store in SoHo - scheduled to open next month - and on ViaSpiga.com. Prices will range from $300 to $850.

The September 6th Vena Cava presentation will showcase four distinctive styles of the exclusive shoe range, which will go “hand in hand with the designers’ ‘Egyptomania’ theme for spring, with muted, sun-bleached colors, strappy sandals and pyramid hardware. The duo incorporated eclectic materials such as monkfish and salmon skin with silver hardware. There is a collage element to mixing materials, which also is a signature element in the brand’s apparel.”

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You can always count on Levi’s to release interesting commercials - remember their Dangerous Liaison’s commercial where the models “peeled off layers of fashion history”?

I’m loving their latest commercial, dubbed The Onion Peel, it features follows a model as she leaves a photoshoot/opera performance and goes back to her normal life. Though with the entire thing shot backwards, perhaps it’s better described as an girl going from a simple denim and tshirt girl to one who’s transformed by a lot of makeup and hair work for her performance.

What exactly does this have to do with Levis jeans? Well I guess it’s emphasizing the fact that it’s a classic staple denim brand.

What do you think of the commercial?