Coming off Fashion Week we are both exhilarated and exhausted. What a huge season, not only for the designers, but for us! We worked around the clock, resulting in our biggest, most extensive fashion week ever. We covered a combined total of nearly 100 runway shows and parties over the course of the week. We also attended the Fashion 2.0 Awards, Socialyte.co's Bloggers Brunch, Elle & Style360's Accessory Lounge, and CFDA's IMPACT exhibit. If you're wondering if we've slept, the answer is "No!" In addition to Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, we also covered NOLCHA, also known as Independent Fashion Week. There we discovered standout, lesser known designers who have been flying under the radar; including Danilo Gabrielli, Vassilis Zoulias, and JetSet Collective.

At Mercedes Benz Fashion Week designers pulled out all the stops for Fall/Winter 2012. More so than last season (color blocking, anyone?) each designer really had their own aesthetic. There was no single on-going "trend" that everyone was adhering to. Well, besides the continuous theme of pure luxury --which as far as we're concerned should be present in every collection! It was a season of luxurious, refined fabrics, and classic cuts; each designer putting their own spin on detailing and presentation.

Even Alexander Wang veered off from black and white, and added a deep luxurious burgundy red to his collection for the first time ever. While still maintaining the minimalism he's known for, the color addition added an element of posh to his otherwise simplistic collection.

There were truly so many incredible collections it was a tough season to pick one favorite. Some of our staff favorites included Tory Burch (possibly her best collection ever!), Honor, Carmen Marc Valvo, Nanette Lepore, Chris Benz, Tadashi Shoji,  Alexander Wang, Lela Rose, and of course, the one and only Jason Wu.

While fashion week is all about the designers and collections, it's also about the parties! This season we made it out to a slew of celebrations. Our favorite's being Refinery29's opening bash at Double Seven, Joseph Abboud's after party at The Vault, W Magazine's Ever Changing Face of Beauty, Yigal Azrouel's fete at The Gramercy Park Hotel, the Hudson & SCOOP NYC party held at SCOOP's Meat Packing district boutique, and Covergirl & Polyvore's closing party.

And, as per usual, there was the requisite oddball front row picture. When it comes to the front row, you never know who will be sitting next to who. Last season, we all got a chuckle at a visibly disgusted Anna Wintour sitting next to Nicki Minaj, who was horrifically dressed as some sort of Chiquita banana/bubble gum machine gone wrong. This season's winner (which as a Star Wars fan, I loved) is Dakota Fanning sitting next to George Lucas at Rodarte. We love you George, but what in the world could you possibly be doing at Rodarte? Maybe he was there trying to figure out how to add 3-D special effects or perhaps an inserted Darth Vader "Noooooo!" We're not really sure, but this was hands down our favorite front row picture this season.

This was certainly our most exciting and action packed fashion week ever. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Special thanks to lead fashion editor Julianne Zigos, fashion editor Leigh Loosbrock, writers Cara Lawton, Natalie Lopez, Dana Prigge, N'djamena Walker, Judiann Romanello, and Norma Sepenuk for their hard work and contributions. Without you guys this wouldn't have been possible!

In case you missed any of the action, here's a roundup of our favorite coverage from NYFW Fall 2012:

 

Shows

Tory Burch Recreates Prim & Proper for F/W '12

Alexander Wang's Modern Minimalism

Lela Rose Goes Graphic

Artful Elegance: Tadashi Shoji Fall 2012

Backstage with Son Jung Wan

All Hail, Jason Wu

Kim Hicks Couture Fall '12 at the Woolworth Mansion

Snakes on the Runway: Carmen Marc Valvo Fall '12

Behind the Scenes with Designer Misha Nonoo

Backstage: Chris Benz's Retro Glam Fall '12 Collection

NOLCHA Fashion Week 2012 Recap

Sweet Simplicity: Honor F/W 2012

She's Crafty: Nanette Lepore F/W '12

 

Parties & Events

Fashion + Tech: The Fashion 2.0 Awards

Refinery29 Brings The Peeps & The Beats

Yigal Azrouel's Fashion Week Fete at the Gramercy Park Hotel

Joseph Abboud After Party & Backstage

Inside Hudson & Scoop NYC's Fashion Week Bash

Style360 & Elle's Accessory Lounge

W Magazine's Ever Changing Face of Beauty

CFDA's IMPACT on the Fashion World

Socialyte.co Hosts Bloggers Lounge

 

See the rest of our Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2012 coverage here. Also be sure to check out our extensive high resolution photo coverage throughout the week including shows, parties, and street style!