Andy Warhol, Von Furstenberg and Monique van Vooren in 1974 © Getty Images

Diane Von Furstenberg turned up last night at the New York Times Center to talk about her leopard-spotted mannequin, part of the Fashion Center’s Sidewalk Catwalk exhibition. As usual, she left us with a lovely little stack of one-liners.

On Twittering: “If you put the word ‘love’ in your Twitter,” she advised Prabal Gurung, “everyone will follow.”

On intuition: “You only know that bag is ‘it’ when it’s ‘it’.”

On perseverance: “There are little cracks. And if you’re a nice little weed, you’ll grow in the cracks.”

May this leopard never change her spots.

The beginning of summer seems the proper time for a social experiment posing the question: Do blondes really have more fun? When they’re in the hands of Caroline Buckler and Eric Muroski at Marie Robinson, it’s a good bet.

If you really want to watch a movie about a saucy little American journalist with great style and a penchant for going bra-less with bad boys, go see Breathless at the Film Forum—that is, if you’re lucky enough to live in sexy NYC. Otherwise forget the cinema, grab the rosé and hit up Netflix.

Fern Mallis. Image by Jenni Avins.

Wednesday night at a Port Authority pop-up, the Design Trust and the CFDA launched Made in Midtown, a multimedia study and symposium series about the New York City Garment District. Fern Mallis, who established New York Fashion Week during her tenure at IMG, turned out for the occasion.

“I grew up in the Garment District,” she said, reminiscing about riding the subway to visit her dad on 38th Street, where he sold women’s scarves. Ms. Mallis also recalled watching female designers at work in the neighborhood. “That’s how I learned about jobs—and women in jobs,” she said. “It wasn’t when every mother was working.”

Ms. Mallis, who left IMG earlier this year to establish her own firm, will continue to consult for Fashion Week, although she lamented the move from Bryant Park to Lincoln Center. “I used to say Bryant Park was the backyard of the Garment District,” she said. “Everybody thinks they love change, but they don’t—especially in the fashion industry.”

Still, she said, the show must go on: “It’s like when Saks redoes the 5th Floor or something,” she said. “You know everything’s there, you just don’t know where to find it.”

A welcome from Waris Ahluwalia, Prabal Gurung, Tom Scott, Alice Ritter and Joel Diaz

Maybe it’s because everyone was dressed up and drinking coffee all day, but the mood at Wednesday’s official opening of the CFDA Fashion Incubator—the glossy-floored corridor of 12 glass-walled studios in New York City’s Garment District—seemed giddy and full possibility, like Open House at the beginning of the school year.

Jennifer Manko, who designs with Bibhu Mohapatra, was turned out in one of the label’s samples: a silky-soft grey number with a bow that flopped prettily on her collarbone. French designer Alice Ritter, who loves her new studio but misses her Williamsburg workspace’s proximity to Bakeri, brought a box of brioche for the occasion. Waris Ahluwalia spread the love, pinning “Waris ♥’s You” badges on particular passers-by. At lunchtime the CFDA turned it into a pizza party, and come nightfall the guys from Public School brought it downtown to Norwood. But the Incubator isn’t just bringing together the coolest kids in school (and a diverse group they are), the program also comprises an advisory board that includes lawyers like the dapper Doug Hand, whose firm advises Phillip Lim, Rag & Bone, Tod’s and more. Hand said he helps designers with challenges like financing, corporate structure and the all-important protection of creative control, adding that he likes getting a little “creative pixie dust” from the designers while helping them translate the letter of the law.

In addition to sprinkling pixie dust on those who enter their space, the designers at 209 West 38th are spreading it around the ailing heart of New York City’s Garment District. Ritter, who produces her collection with a partner in Hong Kong, said she’s thinking about making a few samples in the neighborhood. Bibhu Mohapatra’s pattern-maker stopped by to snap some photos of his dresses on display, and knitwear designer Tom Scott said he’s happy his sweater factory is now just a couple stops away on the 7-train. Natalie Levy and Erin Kelly of Grey Ant are working to shift their factory base from L.A. to New York City, where they said quality is undoubtedly superior.

Here’s to new beginnings.

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L.A. transplants Natalie Levy and Erin Kelly of Grey Ant

Lawyer Douglas Hand of Hand Baldachin & Amburgey

A Tom Scott sweater

Badges at the House of Waris

Images by Jenni Avins

Salon showdowns aside, colorist Marie Robinson’s new digs in New York’s Flatiron District were flooded with springtime light this past Saturday morning. Of course the place is decidedly cool, but moreover, the mood in the James Huniford-designed space is optimistic, fresh and pretty. My new haircut, thanks to stylist Jessica Gillin, makes me feel just the same.

Marie Robinson Salon, 155 Fifth Avenue, 4th Floor, 212-358-7780.

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Above painting by Amy Feldman

Images by Jenni Avins

When my friend Alistair asked me if the last show I attended was “fierce,” I was fairly certain he was making fun of me. But actually, it was, combining Old-World expertise, indulgent materials, outstanding taste and sheer gall into ferocious furs and gowns like only J. Mendel can.

Silver fox fur was sewn strip-by-strip onto a hooded vest with 24-carat gold thread. A glistening gunmetal cuff, with facets that might have been cut by a glacier, rendered a model’s delicate wrist a weapon. Yards and yards of storm-blue silk organza gathered in the front of a strapless gown like a static cloud of smoke.

So actually, Alistair, I’m so glad you asked, because J. Mendel’s F/W10 was indeed unabashedly fierce.

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Silver slippered, fur-coated and still rocking a Goyard at New York Fashion Week.

A lone gold stud bounced onto the runway, but the pirates never noticed. It could have come off any of their garments; they wore far too many riches to bother with a bullet-sized bit of bling. Byzantine scarves wrapped round their heads; their silk sleeves swung with heavy gems; and their torsos dripped with chains and charms. Beneath their buckle-laden boots, the gold stud rolled to a stop, but the pirates paraded on.

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If Jeremy Scott’s collections are like mad dance-party sets and Rachel Comey’s are free-form sonic landscapes, then Philip Lim’s 3.1 designs compose reliable hit albums. F/W10 was another crowd-pleaser with something for everyone—so long as you like disco. A purple sequined long sleeve dress looked perfect for dancing à la Diana Ross. Soft grey layers (like the merino poncho and drawstring track pants) would be luscious for curling up the next day with a love hangover, and a little black wild shearling jacket was a hit single with staying power to last through the seasons, come what may, acid wash and all.

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