The first day of Fall 2012 fashion week has arrived! We’ll be posting about the shows and my outfits throughout the week and that coverage will start tomorrow. Today: a quick post to kick things off.

These days we do a lot of fashion week coverage on YLF, but that isn’t actually the original reason we started attending. It was more about seeing the shows up close and getting to grips with the trends that are on their way to retail. For my own interest, but also so that I can be a more effective fashion stylist for my clients.

So after many years of watching fashion week from afar, we decided to attend the Fall 2010 shows in person. Although Greg brought his camera to the first show, Georges Chakra at his best, we had no expectation of actually getting decent photos. But we did, and we felt that Greg’s perspective was different enough to all the other fashion week coverage that it was worth publishing them along with my thoughts on the show. Covering the shows is tiring and time consuming, but it’s also exhilarating and we have a lot of fun doing it.

And of course, fashion week is very entertaining. Lots of celebrities and eye popping fashion as people pull out all the stops to make an impression. Often the fashion in the tents and on the street is every bit as interesting as the fashion on the runway. I also really enjoy taking the afternoon a few days before we travel to pull together my own outfits for the week. I rarely have the time to mess around in my closet and consider it a real treat.

Finalizing our show schedule for fashion week is quite an art. Because of time contraints, we will only cover a small fraction of fashion week here on YLF. We don’t get invited to all of the shows. And logistically we can’t possibly even attend all of the shows that we are invited to. I try to combine some of my favorites, like Carlos Miele and Tadashi Shoji, with designers that I haven’t seen before. I am particularly excited for this fashion week because we’ll be seeing several “new to me” designers like Costello & Tagliapetra, Reem Acra, Jenny Packham and Joanna Mastroianni. There will also be several shows that I attend, but that we don’t have time to cover. And I will watch a lot of the shows on gigantic screens in the tent while waiting in line.

Although I don’t see absolutely everything, I end up watching about 40 shows in one form or another. I do get completely immersed in the fashion, both on the runways and on the streets, and come out of the week feeling like I have a handle on what we have to look forward to over the next couple of seasons. I pull together a final “trends for next season” post to sum up my interpretations of the shows. I thoroughly enjoy this analysis because it takes me back to my much loved fashion buying days. 

And it won’t all be shows. We have some meetings lined up and we’ll get to see some special friends. Some will be at the YLF gathering on Saturday and I’m super excited to hug old friends and meet new ones. Greg and I also love soaking up the magic of Manhattan by walking virtually everywhere and eating glorious food. 

In the past, Greg and I would always ask ourselves whether we could justify the expense of fashion week. Flights, hotel and meals in NYC add up quickly. This time, however, we are very fortunate to have eBay Fashion as our fashion week coverage sponsor. Thank you eBay, and thanks to all our friends at Federated Media who helped to set this up.