Harlan Bel Backstage & Runway, New York Fashion Week Spring Summer 2009, Photos by Jonathan Melamed
>> It's hard to imagine being pregnant and designing hot little minidresses for other women to wear, but when you're Thea Bregazzi, one half of design duo Preen, and those hot little minidresses happen to be what your label is known for, that's just what you do.
The heavily expectant Thea stayed across the pond in London while her partner in design and life, Justin Thornton, carried on with the label's show today. He carried it well — everything went smoothly, save a slight wardrobe malfunction for Anja Rubik and the confusion that ensued at the end of the show, when Justin didn't appear at the end of the runway and no one knew when to start the final applause.
As for the clothes, the dresses with intricate paneled cutouts and peekaboo zipper slats, the piquante shots of tomato red, and the sexily laced up pleated skinny pants came together for a more refined collection than we have seen from Preen in the last couple of seasons. Maybe Thea should be pregnant more often . . .
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>> INSIDER WIRE —Spotted: Anna Wintour, scoping out the CFDA Health Booth with CFDA executive director Steven Kolb and the mob scene milling around the Tents pre-Diane von Furstenberg this afternoon. After a few moments, she was promptly escorted on through to the show, one burly bodyguard in front of her, one behind, eliciting comments like: "Look, it's Ann Wintour!" and "Who's that?!"
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Diane Von Furstenberg gives us a glimpse into her youth as a twenty something in Goddesses and Rock stars, her homage to Diana Vreeland in her video interview with us.
>> The Tents at Bryant Park often attract throngs this time of year, but this morning, they weren't out for celebrity sightings. No, no . . . they were out for blood, or perhaps a lack thereof.
Just in time for Donna Karan's DKNY show this morning, shouts of "D-K-N-Y! How many animals have to die!" and "Stop the insanity! No blood for vanity!" rang out. But the anti-DKNY campaign didn't stop at the Tent doors — during the show's finale parade, two women burst onto the runway flashing "Donna Dump Fur" banners before security could escort them off. Talk about a unique "celebration" for DKNY's twentieth anniversary show . . .
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If you are feeling tired, overwhelmed and irritable from too many days at the tents (or too few) take a load off with a load of pretty in our Tracy Reese video.
