>> Lyn Devon's goal is to become "the fresh voice in American luxury sportswear."  In her SoHo basement studio today, she showed off her latest effort in "reinventing the classics": but instead of sticking to her usual straight, sharp tailoring, she was inspired by images of ballet and dance to give her silhouette a little more movement.  Hence, her Fall 2010 "beatnik ballet" collection: Devon suggests countering the newfound looseness of her dresses with a black turtleneck and a belted waist.  But when it comes down to it, she's all about catering to her customer — she says her hand knits, leathers, and prints do really well, and this season, she ventured into more eveningwear options, just because her clients asked.

>> All day today, 23-year-old Wes Gordon provided a refuge from the snowstorm in a room on the fifth floor of the St. Regis Hotel. The Atlanta native hosted buyers and editors in a cozy living room of sofas and chairs, where he talked them through his 20-look debut collection. Gordon has quite a pedigree — schooling at Central Saint Martins and internships at Oscar de la Renta and Tom Ford — and is already getting preliminary buzz from Style.com, Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar.

"The collection," he told Vogue, "was inspired by all the beautiful girls I know or wish I knew, like Lauren Bacall. These women exude a modern elegance, wearing exquisitely tailored clothes with a certain twist and edge — not unlike themselves. My goal is to design pieces that combine creativity and fun.”  One lambskin and wool jacket was listed in the show notes with "Ziggy lame" sleeves — dubbed such, Gordon noted, because "Ziggy Stardust" was playing in the background at the time.  The designer is nothing if not exacting: a pink chiffon dress was all hand-tucked, and the collection's buttons were "done by the jeweler down the street" because "nothing should be an afterthought."

>> Two floors below the ground level entrance to the Hudson Hotel, Interview celebrated its 40th anniversary last night by christening Good Units, the hotel's new club.  The space still had remnants of its past life as a 1930s YMCA — wooden bleachers sat in the middle of the main room, providing seating for the likes of Subversive Jewelry's Justin Giunta and Edita Vilkeviciute — and above, where the room's indoor track used to be, party-goers got an eagle's eye view of the dancing going on below.  Archival Interview covers and graffiti by Brian Ermanski on the room's four walls gave the party a '90s vibe.

The crowd was teeming with notables, ready to kick-start Fashion Week.  Vena Cava's Lisa Mayock and Shipley and Halmos's Jeff Halmos found a less crowded corner near the bar to chat by while Halmos's design partner Sam Shipley fetched drinks.  Becka Diamond and Keegan Singh, arms linked, navigated the crowd and later, Singh's boyfriend Eddie Borgo appeared. Giovanna Battaglia, in a red and black leopard-print minidress, grooved to the music, while Derek Blasberg and Kate Bosworth, nearby, animatedly broke it down before scurrying off into the crowd.  Mary-Kate Olsen, who's gearing up for her first The Row presentation, as styled by Marie-Amelie Sauve, and Chloe Sevigny both chatted with Lazaro Hernandez.  A dark-haired Martin Cohn teetered in those Nina Ricci platform heels. And Dasha Zhukova, fresh off the purchase of a $19.5 million home in Los Angeles last month, flitted by in an emerald fitted coat.  All in all, not a bad way to start out the week.

Sam Shipley and Jeff Halmos presented their Shipley & Halmos fall 2010 collection with intimate, pre-fashion week studio vistis. Focusing on the favorite items in a woman's closet, the designers presented clean wardrobe staples like pencil skirts that hit just below the knee (fall's new length), a leather varsity jacket, a see-through Breton tee, an ankle-length trench coat, silk blouses and dresses, and chunky hand-knit sweaters. The collection was an update on a girl's most-loved classics with just enough surprise to keep us interested, and to get us shopping. Click below for the complete fall 2010 lineup.

Chanel hosted a dinner in New York last night at the Mark Hotel to celebrate Vanessa Paradis as the face of Chanel's newest beauty obsession, Rouge Coco de Chanel.

The guest of honor was joined by a stylish crowd gearing up for New York Fashion Week—Kate Bosworth, Daphne Guinness, Caroline Sieber (who arrived with a Chanel transfer tattoo on her upper arm), Terry Richardson, Amy Astley, Irina Lazareanu, and Edita Vilkeviciute to name but a few. Once inside Kate Bosworth and Daphne Guinness showed Derek Blasberg how to work a ballerina bun and the Chanel ambassadors posed for a group snapshot. More images from the Chanel dinner in the gallery below.

Source: Getty, WireImage