Betsey Johnson fall 2012 collection shown during New York Fashion Week. AP PHOTO

By Caryn Rousseau/The Associated Press

NEW YORK – Betsey Johnson is taking her fun and funky persona back to the 1960s.

Johnson revealed her fall collection Monday at New York Fashion Week as tunes played from the Beatles, Dusty Springfield and The Supremes. Her nearly four dozen looks had names like “Eleanor Rigby,” “Quadrophenia” and Laugh-In.”

But as with all Betsey Johnson runway shows, the designer is the star. The 69-year-old wore a silver sparkly long-sleeve shirt as she turned her signature cartwheel and added the splits. Then in true Johnson style, her models marched down the runway marching-band style, dressed as cheerleaders wearing silver miniskirts and carrying pom-poms.

Want proof that Johnson’s inspiration took a time machine ride? Here are just a few of the items she sent down the runway under the tents at Lincoln Center for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week: floppy hats, silver knee-high boots, hot pink tights, white circle-framed sunglasses and sparkly hot pants.

There were more demure pieces too, well, demure for Betsey Johnson. Models also wore red leather gloves, coats made from black and white houndstooth prints, and flowing floral dresses.

Betsey Johnson does the splits on the runway after her fall 2012 runway show in New York. AP PHOTO

DKNY fall 2012 outfit shown during Fashion Week in New York. AP PHOTO

By Samantha Critchell/Associated Press Fashion Writer

NEW YORK – It’s time for the well-heeled women who shop from New York Fashion Week runways to pull themselves up by their bootstraps — preferably Christian Louboutins — and carry off clothes rooted in strength, confidence and even toughness.

Even glamorous Victoria Beckham, rarely seen without stilettos on, sent some of her models down the runway Sunday in motorcycle boots. (They were indeed Louboutins.)

The fiercer, fitted looks are a contrast to the flowing, airy silhouettes that dominated the spring season. Adam Glassman, creative director of O, The Oprah Magazine, said it likely is time for something new.

Structured pieces also hang well on racks in stores — and are flattering on many figures, he noted. “The military shapes and jackets give good shape to a woman, from her shoulders to her waist,” he said.

In addition to military influences and menswear looks for women, other themes emerging by Day 4, halfway through the previews for next season, include leather (Derek Lam, Thakoon Panichgul), python prints (big at Carmen Marc Valvo) and other textured fabrics. Skaist-Taylor, the new brand from Juicy Couture founders Pam Skaist and Gela Taylor, used a print they called “cowhide.”

Traditional fall hues like black, loden green, wine and plum have ruled the runways, but white, an unusual choice for the season, has had a strong showing, too. Lela Rose on Sunday showed an ivory silk crepe collared sheath, an ivory silk cloque dress with embroidered shoulders and a white silver mosaic embroidered dress.

Tracy Reese for fall 2012 shown during Fashion Week in New York. AP PHOTO

DKNY

For her DKNY brand, Donna Karan wrapped up models in high-neck aviator coats and fitted blazers but gave them flirty short skirts with bouncy hemlines. She put them in cozy collars and feminine bow-neck blouses.

Even more diversity came from the textures: embossed crocodile, shiny leather, cozy shearling, sexy sheers and slim twill. When she tired of black, which Karan really never does, she switched to navy, gray or the occasional flash of red.

Tracy Reese

Bold juniper green, lame in gold and violet and a tomato orange lit up Tracy Reese’s runway in pants, dresses, skirts, sweaters and coats long and short.

Reese heavily embellished sleeveless and short-sleeve cocktail dresses with metallic beading front and back. She put feminine fringe on loose, cozy sweaters and combination bowler-baseball caps on the heads of her models.

Much of her outerwear was a crowd pleaser, including a shimmery gold coat belted at the waist. She did another in lemon yellow and a third was cropped with a feminine peplum.

Reese had fun with jacquards, enlarging one in black and white in a cropped jacket and mini skirt. She used colored jacquards and leaf motifs throughout.

Carmen Marc Valvo fall 2012 shown during Fashion Week in New York. AP PHOTO

Carmen Marc Valvo

Carmen Marc Valvo offered a palette of ivory, black, camel and deep reds and browns, and used illusion effects, with sheaths sparkling in sequins and insets in a suede python print on waists, chests and backs. A python pattern was created from small double-face wool pieces sewn onto netting. He then placed his snake over a silk sheath underlay in champagne.

He included some looks he hopes will land on red carpets this year: a four-ply silk crepe illusion gown in ruby and another of the same style in a lively moss.

Valvo also went full-on fur in an ombre mink patchwork coat in a light camel with a darker back and in wide mink stoles wrapped around the necks of models. He used shaggy black goat fur on the sleeves of a jacket and feathered fox in oatmeal for a sumptuous vest.

A belted ivory coat had simple lines, a similar cut in camel and a cashmere cocktail dress in moss with straight, tight sleeves just above the elbow.

Thakoon Panichgul

Thakoon Panichgul, a favorite of first lady Michelle Obama, designed a line heavy with bright neon colors and rich materials. Panichgul mixed the refined, like a black satin sleeved dress, with the modern — a striking red and orange print he calls “neon beam.”

Red leather, red lipstick and shiny red high heels were also prominent. He paired a fuchsia fur knit sweater with a raspberry patent skirt that had a paper bag waist. He ruched red leather at the biceps and waist for a dress and used a hearts-and-lips print for a jacquard bomber jacket.

The collection was filled with outerwear inspired dresses, from a black satin tuxedo jacket dress to a crinkled deep blue trench coat dress.

Derek Lam fall 2012 shown during New York Fashion Week. AP PHOTO

Derek Lam

Derek Lam offered lovely chunky but sleeveless sweaters on a cold day, one black, one white, each paired with a long silk georgette evening skirt of the same color.

Lam also had an ivory shearling and a series of nice pea coats, in white or navy wool, or, even warmer, in shearling, plus a black-and-white tweed jacquard coat, paired with black lambskin trousers.

Other practical yet pretty and luxurious looks from Lam included shoes — a gold patent leather oxford and a black lizard oxford with a gold toe. In prints, he favored both a floral satin — in a jacket, a T-shirt, and a coat — and a paisley jacquard, in a black-and-white dress or T-shirt, or a gold-and-black skirt.

Shiny leather also played a prominent role, not only in trousers, but also in dresses — such as a white lambskin dress paired with a black lambskin turtleneck, or a wine-colored cap sleeve lambskin dress, also paired with its own turtle.

Zac Posen

Did Zac Posen spend a sabbatical in the Orient?

The designer’s runway show Sunday at New York Fashion Week was filled with references — both allusive and obvious — to Asian culture for his fall line.

Looks were paired with printed obi belts in a collection rich with jewel tones of dark red, emerald green, shiny gold and deep navy. Red and black large peony blossoms popped on a jacquard dress and separates, a folded lapel jacket and pencil skirt. The models wore their hair in sleek, slicked back buns with heavily lined eyes.

Posen featured a series of his signature, sexy gowns, some with kimono-like wide, draped sleeves. Nearly all the pieces shown in the Lincoln Center tents where Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is held had mermaid or fishtail hemlines, with fabric flowing and gathering at the model’s knees and feet.

Zac Posen fall 2012 shown during New York Fashion Week. AP PHOTO

Don’t be surprised to see these silhouettes popping up on red carpets during this awards season. Posen is a favorite in Hollywood, recently dressing model Elle Macpherson in a strapless, tiered ivory gown for the Golden Globes and actress Glenn Close in a black, taffeta-and-tulle gown for the Screen Actors Guild awards — and the Oscars are just a few weeks away.

Skaist-Taylor collection for fall 2012 shown during New York Fashion Week. AP PHOTO

By Samantha Critchell/AP Fashion Writer

NEW YORK — Skaist-Taylor brought the luxe-casual Los Angeles look that loves a good T-shirt paired with a fur coat to its New York Fashion Week debut.

The brand is billed as “chapter two” for Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, the founders of Juicy Couture. So while Skaist-Taylor was a newbie to the runways here Sunday, its principals found themselves surrounded by old fashion friends.

“I’ve cried twice already today,” said Nash-Taylor as she received congratulations from editors, stylists — including Rachel Zoe — and retailers. “It’s a lovefest.”

Liz Claiborne bought the Juicy label in 2003.

This presentation did attract an A-list crowd — it doesn’t hurt that Nash-Taylor is married to Duran Duran’s John Taylor, who was there in leather pants and wearing a backstage pass — but it still was an underground event, literally. Instead of the tents that scores of other designers are using for the seasonal style previews, Skaist-Taylor staged its event in the underground parking garage underneath Lincoln Center.

“It made sense for us,” explained Skaist-Levy. “LA is a car culture and we’re all about LA.”

The duo called the fall collection “California Eccentrics” and put a mix of chunky knits, scarf-print dresses, tweeds, flared-leg trousers and track suit-style tuxedo pants on the runway. Snakeskin shorts were paired with a peasant blouse.

They didn’t hold back on the glitz, including a crystal-covered bomber jacket and a gold lame top-and-shorts set.

“This is all what we love, what we wear,” said Nash-Taylor.

An outfit from Victoria Beckham's fall 2012 collection shown during New York Fashion Week. AP PHOTO

By Samantha Critchell/AP Fashion Writer

NEW YORK — She may be chic and petite, but don’t mess with Victoria Beckham. She offered a no-nonsense, tough-girl fall collection at New York Fashion Week on Sunday that she said she hoped would forge an “emotional attachment between the garment and the wearer.”

She explained in the notes for attendants of her small runway show at the New York Public Library that she used this season to explore her interest in details and technique. The crowd did include husband David, in his Sunday-best suit.

“The idea of how the body can connect to the clothes through their construction and detail fascinates me,” she wrote.

That translated on the catwalk to shiny python shirt-style collars on second-skin dresses with gold hardware, and zip-back striped sheaths. Interesting twists included dresses with epaulets but no sleeves to hang them on, and harness-style backs on dresses that had high necks in the front. There was a hint of a schoolgirl vibe in some looks with the collars and flared-hem skirts.

Gone from this collection were the looser shapes Beckham had been experimenting with in past seasons.

This was Beckham’s sexy, sophisticated look to the core. OK, the exception might be the motorcycle boots that one can’t imagine Beckham giving up her stilettos for.

There was not much opportunity to see Beckham when she took her bow: It was a brief wave as she peeked from backstage.

“She is so determined and focused in anything she does, whether it’s her career, figure or clothing line,” said Nina Garcia, Marie Claire fashion director and “Project Runway”  judge. “She’s her best advertisement. She always looks great, is a fashion icon herself and has a passion for what she’s doing.”

One of the outfits from Diane von Furstenberg's fall 2012 runway show in New York. AP PHOTO

NEW YORK—Diane von Furstenberg let the crowd attending New York Fashion Week in on a little secret Sunday: Fashion is a puzzle.

Von Furstenberg, who as president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America is the de facto leader of the American fashion community, used jigsaw puzzle pieces as a prominent theme of her fall collection, presented to a packed house that included her personal friends Oscar de la Renta, Anderson Cooper, Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters. There was a puzzle print on a pink sleeveless dress and laser-cut pieces on a black embellished one. A model carried a puzzle-box bag.

She described her muse of the season in her notes: “With a heightened awareness to the promise of places she has not yet been, people she has not met yet, she wraps herself in layers of opposing dimensions, ready for anything. Practiced in the art of innuendo. she commands sleek silhouettes with sheer accents cut to reveal just enough.”

Von Furstenberg alternated between sophisticated, simple and sometimes smoldering jersey dresses in dark colors and fun cocktail numbers in bright, almost tropical shades of pink, lime green and bright blue. It was a palate cleanser for the palette of black, gray, dark green and deep purple that’s been served for four days to editors, stylists and retailers at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

“This collection is called ‘Rendezvous,’” von Furstenberg explained before the show. “It’s all about loving to be a woman. It’s about seduction. It is bold. It is daring. It is strong, but it has humor. It’s all about liking your body, and at the same time with big coats, so it’s the yin and the yang.”

An oufit from Diane von Furstenberg's fall 2012 runway show in New York. AP PHOTO

The LAMB. Fall 2012 collection is modeled during Fashion Week in New York, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

By Samantha Critchell/AP Fashion Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Singer and designer Gwen Stefani, one of the few celebrities who has stuck with her fashion brand for the long haul, offered a “That Girl” vibe at the New York Fashion Week show for her LAMB line.

Black-and-white photos of New York in the 1960s provided the backdrop for tweed miniskirt suits, chunky knit sweaters worn with shorts and tights, and a double-zip, high-neck jumpsuit. Grays and blacks were punctuated by occasional flashes of bright yellow.

Unfortunately, the logistics of her presentation Saturday night at the Lincoln Center tents during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week made it difficult for the assembled editors, retailers and stylists to get a really good look at the collection. A half-dozen models at a time were rotated onto a small stage as hundreds of people tried to get a glimpse. It was hard to get a sense of the cohesive message of the line, although it seemed like there was a definite point of view from Stefani, which she confirmed in an email interview with The Associated Press.

AP: What was your inspiration, and how is this collection different and similar to your previous seasons?

Stefani: I began with the original rock girl icon, the sweater girl in a pencil skirt and looked at early ’60s fashion imagery. These girls were the first and have always stayed current. After that I added all the things I always loved. Houndstooth, mixed print, black and white, pop colors. This season I tried to make the clothes stand out and yet be very easy to wear.

AP: Can you describe your ideal customer and how the new collection serves them?

Stefani: My ideal customer is a fashion-forward girl, an individual who needs her clothes to perform like classic sportswear. She enjoys her fashion, loves her style, likes to express herself and not look like everyone else. Her clothes should cruise along with everything else that she loves in her life and not be difficult or restricting to wear.

AP: How do you keep tabs on up-and-coming designers?

Stefani: I’m constantly on the Internet at the studio late at night when we have breaks recording the ND (“No Doubt”) album. I love sites like Trendland, Style.com and am always finding tons of new Japanese sites to go through too. I love sending my team all of the images I find . so much fun. I’m totally obsessed.

A model wears one of Monique Lhuillier's creations from her fall 2012 runway show during New York Fashion Week. AP PHOTO

By Samantha Critchell/AP Fashion Writer

NEW YORK  — Venture a guess on which of Monique Lhuillier’s new designs will make it to the red carpet first: the feminine red lace ballgown with layers of organza that mimic feathers or the black leather-strap halter dress?

Backstage at her New York Fashion Week show on Saturday night, the designer wasn’t tipping her hand, other than to say: “A lot of the pieces that you see here tonight are already on hold for the Oscars,”

Celebrity stylists had been previewing them for the past two days, she explained.

What they and the fashion editors and retailers at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week saw is an almost entirely red-and-black collection that comes from Lhuillier’s daring and fierce side. “It’s the same Monique, like beauty and femininity is still running through, but there’s unpredictability that’s also more mature and new for the line, and I really pushed,” she said.

In the process, Lhuillier, known for bridal gowns and eveningwear, almost eliminated her hallmark Cinderella shapes, opting for a more futuristic look a la Barbarella, the erotic science fiction character.

“Everything is long and lean. Long sleeves are in. Things are cut really close to the body,” Lhuillier said.

She didn’t give up beading, though, and, in fact, she seemed to employ embroidery techniques that made everything even more sparkly. The look worked best on a red T-shirt style cocktail dress.

Lhuillier used touches of fur to add luxury to the daytime looks. A black wool sheath with a front fur panel was super chic. Remember, her customers aren’t typically headed to a cubicle, PTA meeting or grocery store in the morning.

Starlet Nina Dobrev is a fan of Lhuillier’s, especially as she develops a wardrobe for days just like this one — attending fashion shows. “A lot of flashing, a lot of pictures, and a lot of really, really great clothing. It’s really cool,” Dobrey said.

Monique Lhuillier fall 2012 runway show in New York during Fashion Week. AP PHOTO

Five finalists, each representing a decade between 20 and 60 plus, will receive a $5,000 cash prize and be honored at a VIP party in New York City.  One grand prize winner selected from the finalists will receive an additional cash prize of $5,000.

“We celebrate women at every age because great style is eternal,” said Glenda Bailey, Harper’s Bazaar editor in chief. “We are thrilled to spotlight our fashionable readers.”  

This is the third year Estee Lauder has partnered with the magazine on the contest.

 To enter the contest, readers can nominate themselves or other fab women. For details, go to www.harpersbazaar.com/fabulouscontest.