A muggy Milan of frequent showers on Wednesday as the Italian runway season opened, but a pair of steamy collections by two southern gentleman – Alessandro Dell’Acqua and Fausto Puglisi to ignite the season.

So, admiral blue is the new black. And plaid should come in hunter green and yellow daisy, just like the enormous tent in Highbury, where Burberry staged its latest show on a cloudy Monday.

Every editor, buyer or critic in London showed for Fashion East on this weekend, as well they should given its organizer Lulu Kennedy’s legendary antenna for new talent.

A Sunday that drenched London in intense showers didn’t wash out the fashion, with two stellar collections from Simone Rocha and Erdem, and more than honorable displays by Tove and Holzweiler. 

On a sunny Saturday in London, three bold-face name designers presented contrasting visions of fashion, though unified in their common attempts to explore unexpected silhouettes, made of unlikely raw materials. 

London Fashion Week’s busy opening Friday afternoon of shows starred an erotic Greek revival at Di Petsa, East-meets-West sophistication at Huishan Zhang, and clubbing cool at Mark Fast.   

A crop of indie designers such as Puppets and Puppets, Willy Chavarria, and Luar demonstrated a distinctive New York point of view, during New York Fashion Week.

New York Fashion Week’s final day threw up some cool, cerebral, cultish and clever collections on a wet Wednesday, from Yohji Yamamoto ex Ashlynn Park, veteran Bibhu Mohapatra, and an impressive new Salon 1884.

New York celebrated Tuesday with two uptown brands, Carolina Herrera and Love Shack Fancy, staging impressively romantic shows in sacred downtown locations – a museum and a seminary. 

As day four of NYFW spilled into day five, the remnants of Hurricane Lee caused one last burst of havoc while the city remembered 22 years since September 11, 2001.

New York Fashion Week designers Phillip Lim, Area, Jason Wu, Ulla Johnson, and Studio 189 made a case for working Sunday in the rain with their stellar collections and shows.

Two veterans designers - Anna Sui and Paul Helbers – and two emerging marques - Palomo Spain and Colin Locascio - competed for attention this weekend where the key message was fantasy is back in favor in fashion.

Nothing like a cash injection to make you think big, like at Khaite, which this season moved location from an intimate Soho boutique to the Uptown Armory on Park Avenue. 

Seasoned fashion week attendees know New York's early September weather can be an absolute scorcher. This week was no exception, and by day three, the humidity gave way to showers, a welcome sight to lower temps. 

“Art and commerce,” beamed Jack McCollough, after he and partner Lazaro Hernandez had staged what will surely be one of the most relevant shows and collections in the current season.

The gods have been cruel to the house of Helmut Lang, whose history since Helmut departed has been a long downward slide, barely broken by Peter Do’s debut for the house Friday afternoon.