Fashion's Power Players Tactfully Arranged at Diane von Furstenburg

Spare a thought for what has to be one of the toughest jobs on a fashion show—the Sisyphean task of seating all the one name editors so they all feel equally well-treated. You know who we mean, Graydon, Anna, Tina...

At Diane von Furstenberg, it was clear that extra special care had gone into placement.  Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter and Vogue's Anna Wintour were seated in the center of the runway, near to, but far enough from each other so there could be no direct eye contact. It was like a fashion chess board with the white king and the black queen in stalemate. Tina Brown was in the same row as Graydon Carter, so she couldn't see her Vanity Fair successor, and almost directly opposite Anna Wintour. Glenda Bailey of Harper's Bazaar had a front row seat on the opposite side of the center partition, down a bit from Town & Country's new leader, Jay Fielden. Purple mag's Olivier Zahm was closest to the cameras—even though he'd brought his own and photographed the models himself as they sashayed down the runway.

Diane von Furstenberg consistently produces a clean, wearable collection. She looked out West for inspiration and there were notes of southwestern style in her collection. Some of the models wore ponchos and the colors were vibrant shades of orange and red.  There were some lovely long sylph-like dresses of sequins and the eternal wrap dress in some new geometric patterns. She must be one of the few designers whose looks go right from the runway to the shops.

At most of the shows we've been to, the designer came out for a little discreet bow before running back in the safety of backstage. Not DVF—she took a full victory lap around her runway locking arms with her creative director and pausing to first pay homage to Anna Wintour and then to kiss her son, Alexandre, and daughter, Tatiana. And why not? Countless hours must have gone into creating the collection, and there was much to be proud of.