BlackBook Magazine

Now that our national beer (along with a few more measures of our national pride) has been sold off to the Belgians, we're just going to have to get used to having them around. The good news: They're arriving and bringing food! Indeed, an outpost of Brussels' unceasingly chic and stylish Rouge Tomate (in the trendoid pecking order, probably the equivalent of our Pastis) will open this September amidst the Madison Avenue designer decadence. Occupying the old Nicole Fahri space, its seats are sure to be filled with fashionable fannies, whose owners will dig in to San Francisco chef Jeffrey Bearman’s Euro-y New American take on the brand’s organic, health-conscious, authenticity-obsessed cuisine. Best of all, $100 will equal $100 here, as opposed to back in the Belgian capital, where our dwindling currency is weaker than NATO.

‘Cause sometimes you need a spot where you can just work your patter.

1. Rusty Knot - Key West/West Village posh-dive mashup. Commence humming lyrics to “Brandy” now.
2. Marshall Stack - The simple, classic appeal of a fuzzed-out power chord.
3. Spitzer’s Corner - If Abercrombie & Fitch was a bar -- not entirely in a bad way, either.

Once upon a time in the 1990s, Madonna was still relevant, a little new show about a certain zipcode demonstrated massive potential, and the American dollar was practically the king of currency. Cut to nearly two decades later, when the once trailblazing pop star is struggling to keep up with fads, the updated 90210 is a trainwreck, and even our dollar is barely worth the flimsy paper on which it's printed. Despite American culture's instinct to undercut its immediate past, there's considerable relief in the spectacular commentary it's generating. Consider "Power and Currency," a group show at Brooklyn's Factory Fresh, which not only examines power and currency as individual concepts but their binding relationship to one another and their stranglehold on the world at large.

The line for the standing section at the Y-3 Yohji Yamamoto for Adidas show last night was out of control ... as in, an entire city-block-and-a-half kind of out of control. Waiting in the thick of it (what one could term the fashion trenches) and having moved merely a few feet since the time I arrived, I watched as a few people jumped ship. This was, after all, 20 minutes after the show was scheduled to start. (My guess is they booked it to H&M on 5th Ave, or, better yet, the Container Store next door.) I was then forced to listen to fashion banter provided by two college kids just behind me.

Boy: So, is the Prada party supposed to be fun?
Girl: Um [laughs] is the sky blue?

Have you entered our Tilda Swinton-themed Burn After Reading contest yet? Why not? Are you hiding something? All you need do is register for BlackBook, which, like Tilda herself, is free, fast, relatively painless, and androgynously erotic. Register by September 18 to win a pile of movie swag and another pile of Swinton DVDs. Do it now.

The mighty Sun returned to smile on New York Fashion Week once more, banishing yesterday's downpours even as it exacerbated hangovers of those struggling into the tents this morning. Nevertheless, most were fresh-faced and pleased at the change in weather, trotting out less somber (and less waterproof) ensembles than seen so far. If you've already seen galleries from Day 1 and Day 2, then now it's time to plunge into the Day 3 gallery, complete with blood-soaked protesters angry about DKNY and Prada's treatment of fluffy bunnies et cetera. All courtesy of indefatigable BlackBook photog Sunny Shokrae, with plenty more to come of course.

When I first arrived downstairs at Milk Studios for Band of Outsiders and Boy's SS09 presentation, there was a bit of a panic. The elevator connecting an increasingly large crowd with the presentation upstairs only took 15 at a time. Nearly a dozen flights up in the penthouse, a significantly more serene scene awaited. Screening on opposite white walls were three separate films -- two of which captured high-watt celebs Kirsten Dunst and Max Minghella, solo, standing/jumping their way through Scott Sternberg's latest collections. An ethereal soundtrack played loudly but did little to muffle the excited voices filling the room. Editors pawed looks from the new Boy and Band of Outsiders collections, which were on display and available for copping a feel on racks lining one wall. Draped across lit white boxes were partially transparent men's button-up shirts and track jackets. All in all, the collection seemed well received, no doubt in large part thanks to its wearability.

Front and center last night for Foxy Brown's live performance at Alexander Wang's after-party (which is surely vying for best party of the season). Sean Avery, Erin Wasson, and Allice Dellal were all in attendance. Fortunately for the painfully good-looking, extremely young crowd, the Tribeca basement in which the unforgettable concert took place was far from overcrowded, thanks to an uber-tight door. But that's not to say both photographers and frenzied Foxy fans alike weren't sweating buckets by the end of the rapper's performance. The highlight of the night was definitely Wang hopping up on stage to dance with Brown, where he stayed for nearly three songs. That's what I call a party.

Monsoon strikes Manhattan! Thousands of skinny models washed down storm drains! Mild chaos ensued this afternoon at New York's Fashion Week as a series of downpours kept showgoers out of Bryant Park and under the tents. Nevertheless, BlackBook's Sunny Shokrae was there to document the crowds, plus various visually innaresting characters therein. See the full gallery from today, and check out yesterday's teaser as well.

Fashion Week rolls on, despite less-than-clement weather. I hit the Vena Cava SS09 show in Chelsea this afternoon, moments before drizzle turned into torrential downpour. Downstairs, inside the Chelsea Art Museum, I found a sizeable crowd of fashion industry alums, spotted with designer Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock's families and close friends. Positioned at varying spots on a three-tier stage were nearly two dozen models clothed in Vena Cava's Egyptian-themed collection (think black and silver silk bibs giving the impression of breastplates and long, silk dresses decorated with phrases like Ramses, in homage to the infamous ruler). Outfitted in a mustard-colored silk dress, plus long necklace by jewelry designer Jill Butler, was none other than Model.Live cast member Melanie, who we'd spotted at the Vogue/IMG party for the show just a few nights earlier at Gemma. The fledgling model was most likely as excited to be there as the four tweens I met, wide-eyed and grinning about getting to see their very first fashion show.