The fall 2009 fashion shows closed here on a note of nostalgia and hope.
PHOTOS: Paris Fashion Week

High-end houses scale back ostentation, as pragmatism rules in Paris.
PHOTOS: Paris Fashion Week

Rei Kawakubo's collection for Comme des Garcons paid equal respect to pain and joy, sadness and beauty.
PHOTOS: Paris Fashion Week

Disgruntled designers take fashion back to the 1980s. As if the first round of shoulder pads wasn't bad enough.
PHOTOS: Milan Fashion Week

The fall collection for Jil Sander exudes control and calm but also reveals stylistic failure as it blunts the power of feminine individualism.
PHOTOS: Jil Sander in Milan

Major and minor designers share the catwalks in London.
PHOTOS: London Fashion Week

Troubled times challenge designers' opulent aesthetics.
PHOTOS: New York Fashion Week

Robin Givhan discusses the virtues of Michelle Obama's favorite designers in this narrated photo gallery.

Designers offer salt-of-the-earth clothes that are right for the times.
PHOTOS: Menswear in New York

Space-age materials and shapes made a Jetsons-like splash at New York Fashion Week.
New York Fashion Week Begins

Paris fashion, at its best, is an exploration of shape-shifting and fabric innovation, examining one's basic assumptions about aesthetics and practicality.

Paris fashion, at its best, is an exploration of shape-shifting and fabric innovation, examining one's basic assumptions about aesthetics and practicality.

The fashion industry is in the unfortunate position of manufacturing merchandise that many would argue is wholly unnecessary.

Gucci has lost its panache. The label that once sent shivers through the fashion industry is transforming, with an almost urgent haste, into just another company hawking handbags and shoes to those more interested in a brand name than great style.

Fashion designers thrive on a relentless quest to be modern.

The spring 2009 fashion shows ended with veteran designer presenting a collection with references to North Africa, India and the Middle East.

Launching a fashion label can often feel like being at the mercy of the wind. One day, the young designer Thakoon Panichgul was blown into the spotlight because Michelle Obama had worn one of his dresses.

Mellow, beachy colors of ocean blue, marigold yellow and hibiscus pink dominated the runways Monday at New York Fashion Week.

The stars descended on New York Fashion Week on Sunday, with Olympian Dara Torres hitting the catwalk and Justin Timberlake putting on a runway show.

The looks of the London youth movment in the years when mod morphed into punk dominated runways Saturday in the second day of spring previews.

The glamorous set had a message for economic worrywarts as New York Fashion Week kicked off Friday: Chill out.