Everyone’s talking about London’s young designer set — and the news is not good.

The media has been buzzing about the wave of  familiar faces who will be missing from the front rows this season. Julie Gilhart, Ron Frasch, and Ken Downing won’t be making it to London Fashion Week this season to represent major American department stores Barneys, Saks and Neiman Marcus, respectively. For Julie, a fervent supporter of London’s emerging brands, it is the first time in 20 years that she won’t be here.

These buyers have told the press that unless London’s designers produce something very special or have strong existing relationships with US retailers, they will have a hard time making up for the spiralling effect that the strong pound has had on their prices once converted to American dollars.

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Yesterday at Phillip Lim I heard a videographer complaining "There’s no one here, and whenever someone does show up, they bring them out at the last minute so I can’t shoot them."

Many fashion brands may have been built on the dreams created by out-of-this world haute couture collections, but today, for many brands, this desire is built on the image of celebrity, which can arguably reach more people than the Haute Couture shows ever will. Celebrity is the new Haute Couture. Or, better said, celebrity now plays the dream-weaving and marketing role that Haute Couture has played in the past.

However, in a week when the front rows were supposed to be dripping with celebrities, the paparazzi at New York’s fashion shows were left wanting. Yes, pop star Rihanna made several appearances, as did Angie Harmon, but it seemed the biggest A-list stars had given New York Fashion Week a wide berth.

Until yesterday.

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On the corner of 57th and 5th in New York, in the Trump Tower space that used to house the failed Asprey flagship, the scaffolding and covering have been removed from the new 46,000 square foot Gucci flagship.  The shelves have been stocked and the windows are already proclaiming Gucci’s love for New York, in hopes that New York will love Gucci back – to the tune of an estimated $100m a year.

As we walked by the location of the brand new flagship store yesterday afternoon, an army of workmen was putting the finishing touches on what will be one of the largest luxury stores on 5th Avenue and is expected to rake in as much cash as the phenomenally successful Abercrombie and Fitch flagship across the street.

Today, WWD wondered whether 5th Avenue might become the new Ginza, referring to the Tokyo quartier which has seen a veritable frenzy of building by luxury brands eager to make their mark on the neighbourhood and in the psyche of the all-important Japanese shopper. Likewise, this huge New York store is as much about sustaining and building Gucci’s brand image as it is about dollars and cents.

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The day before Super Tuesday in the American primary elections might be called Mega Monday at New York Fashion Week, with established heavyweights like Oscar de la Renta showing alongside the city’s new establishment of Proenza Schouler and Peter Som. Young or old, a newfound fancy for fur (and its premium pricepoints) was a common thread, even in these recessionary times.

But, Oscar is no old-fogey. His collection came out to the sweet sounds of Regina Spektor, the young hip pianist. During the show, I had the good fortune to be seated next to the company’s CEO, Alex Bolen, who also happens to be Oscar’s son-in-law. It was a great opportunity to have a pre-show chat. Before I could even ask, Alex told me that Oscar de la Renta has not seen any impact of the economic slowdown on their business at all. Not a blip in sight.

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On Sunday night, Rodnik and Iqons teamed up for a buzzing party in New York to celebrate the launch of the first ever Iqons magazine and Rich and Phil’€™s continued creative collaboration in music and fashion. Even the big guns from Vogue (Andre Leon Talley) and the New York Times (Cathy Horyn) were squeezed into the tiny cabaret space at The Box to catch the latest installment of the Rich and Phil show, which included a capsule of looks from their A/W collection to be shown in its entirety during London Fashion Week.

It’s a good thing that Rich and Phil made the trans-Atlantic trip, because Sarah Mower reported in The Observer on Sunday that that after the global stock markets sank in January, the British Fashion Council began to receive calls from American buyers canceling their trips to London.  Is last season’s rebound of London Fashion Week under threat?

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It’s that time of year again when the curious caravan of editors, models, photographers, buyers, fashion icons and celebrities (and their hangers-on) make the rounds of over 400 fashion shows over the next four weeks across four of the world’s fashion capitals. First up is New York Fashion Week, known for its commercially-driven collections, slick PR and strategic celebrity appearances. But this year is shaping up to be a humdinger in New York that could make this a fashion week unlike any other in the recent past.

First, many young American Contemporary designers may have a real chance at finally cracking the European market. Historically, they have had a hard time convincing European buyers to take on their collections. But, with the low US dollar and a highly-developed Contemporary business in the USA offering runway looks at mid-range prices, the designers have a very compelling value proposition for European buyers, who themselves are bracing for a possible economic slowdown. The Contemporary brands can offer great value to those customers who need to rein in spending as they ride out the recession.

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