New York Fashion Week 2010!

Highlights from the opening day included Karl Lagerfeld receiving the prized Fashion Visionary award from the Couture Council of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Gorgeous German actress and Chanel clothes horse, Diane Kruger, awarded Lagerfeld with the prize. The actress and designer have a long standing friendship which began when the actress started modelling for the designer at the age of 16. Naturally Kruger shone in a Chanel jewelled gown from the autumn/winter 2010 collection, Lagerfeld has been the creative visionary behind the label for nearly three decades now, proving he is a fashion force to truly be reckoned with.

Home grown British designer and long-reigning fashion icon, Victoria Beckham, unveiled her new spring/summer collection last week which focuses on “shape and curves” in a bid to celebrate the womanly form. Usually hitting headlines for her worryingly skeletal frame, Mrs Beckham’s array of voluptuous short dresses with high-waists and lithe seaming elegantly emphasise and flatter the female frame. The designer herself looked surprisingly shapely and of course spectacularly immaculate in a short LBD which boasted a bell-shaped full skirt, making the most of her enviable pins.

One of the most talked about shows at this year’s event so far has been the return of designer Tom Ford to womenswear. The catwalk show itself was a spectacle to behold with the likes of Beyonce Knowles, Julianne Moore and Daphne Guinness all taking to the runway to model the designer’s desirable collection of ready-to-wear lust-haves which included see-through and skin tight daring pieces, designed to bring out the desirable seductress in the wearer. Ford has been sorely missed from the world of womenswear for six years now and this exquisite launch of his first-ever own-brand womenswear collection can only mean that he will be welcomed back with open, fashion savvy, arms.

Injecting a bit of girly nostalgia into the mix was Donna Karen who has opted for pockets adorned with frills on ankle-length, elegant shirt dresses.  Ruffles decorate everything from pencil skirts to swimsuits and the vibrant colour palette of hot pink, aquamarine and turquoise was enough to get even the most cynical feminist in the girly mood.

Shows from Diane Von Furstenberg, Carolina Herrera and Tommy Hilfiger have also set the City alight with their combined consistent standard of quality, inspiring and fashion forward designs, ensuring that New York Fashion Week 2010 has once again set the standard for London, Milan and Paris to follow.