The List: Wacky Faces Of Fashion Week

We’re at the apex of New York Fashion Week now, and while models parade through Manhattan and model-esque editors are photographed by the Sartorialist, let’s not forget or ignore the other coterie of individuals that comes with the fashion industry.  These are people who, for better or worse, have cultivated looks that rarely, if ever, involve the latest trends.

1. Fashion people with real fashion jobs:

Lynn Yaeger was, until recently, the fashion reporter for the Village Voice.  She’s still a loud voice in the industry, and moonlights all over the place within the fashion world.  She’s a porcelain-skinned mainstay at the Bryant Park tents, as is Richie Rich.  He’s one half of the club-kid design duo behind Heatherette, and his life and work don’t seem particularly separated by any constraints or reality checks.

2. Fashion people with less definable jobs:

Rosemary Ponzo is a stylist.  Or a designer.  It’s hard to tell.  Anyway, her web site claims she’s worked with Gwyneth Paltrow, and she sat a few rows in front of us at the Badgley Mischka show.  Patrick McDonald writes for Paper magazine and goes to lots of parties.

3. Fashion Cheerleaders:

Maybe everyone on this list is a fashion cheerleader, but we love these matriarch/patriarch types most.  Lauren Ezersky, on the left, is known for her kooky ways, hosting Behind the Velvet Ropes, a TV show on the fashion industry.  And of course, André Leon Talley, editor-at-large at Vogue, is Anna Wintour’s outspoken right-hand man.

Cop their style:

You may not be ready for face paint, but you can certainly get in on the statement pieces.  We’d feel ready for the tents wearing this Juicy Couture Faux-Fur Vest ($298) or for the slightly more daring, a Rachel Pally Turban ($88).

For more fashion-forward looks these characters might favor, we’d recommend starting with booties and moving on to thigh-high boots and cocktail dresses.