Lindsay Lohan, Dylan O'Brien and Olivia Jade Giannulli were among the celebrities at New York Fashion Week. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Diggzy/Shutterstock, Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty Images, XNY/Star Max/GC Images via Getty Images)Elon Musk's daughter screamed in my face halfway through New York Fashion Week. I was crammed on a red velvet stool at the plush Evelyn Hotel when it happened, smack in the middle of the Dauphinette show, when Vivian Wilson, the estranged and beautiful daughter of the Earth's Richest Dude Bro, entered the runway shrieking. Nearly falling off my perch getting blood-curdled by a model wasn't on my bingo card, especially since Dauphinette is usually known for its super-sweet party frocks and daisy-plated tops.
But it looked cool on Instagram, scared the crap out of the audience and listen, this is art, dammit. Just go with it.
Some say New York Fashion Week could really use this kind of wake-up call. In recent years, the event has been deemed "dead" or "over" or, in the immortal parlance of Kristin Cavallari, "dunzo." I suspect calling New York Fashion Week "done" is the style version of calling Saturday Night Live "unfunny." It's easy to dismiss something that makes you feel uncool, or even just unconsidered.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThat said, New York Fashion Week - and fashion itself - is often part of the solution to sadness, exclusion or boredom. It generates over 100 million Instagram and TikTok views. It is also a cash cow, albeit one that's used for luxe Nappa leather. The weeklong string of runways, parties and panels also brings nearly $1 billion to New York's economy every season. It dictates which looks Shein and Temu are gonna try and knock off before Christmas. And it's the only place where we get to see Olivia Wilde and Oprah jammed onto one teeny bench in sharp Michael Kors suits that will likely be at TJ Maxx in six months. Surely that's worth a good primal scream.I took on the shows and sights to bring you more celebrity-tinged moments that are worth a good shout, including Lindsay Lohan's latest transformation, Elle Fanning's unlikely celeb savior and a reminder that fashion is still fun.A million little Alix EarlesIn the 1760s, France's most eligible chaude femmes (hot girls) began piling their hair into pompadours to look like their patron babe, Marie Antoinette. Today, it seems the fashion world is doing the same thing - for Alix Earle. TikTok's most eligible blonde and new Dancing With the Stars favorite was seemingly everywhere this season, even if she didn't appear at a single fashion show.
Grace Van Petten, Alix Earle and Summer Dirx. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Gotham/GC Images via Getty Images, Taylor Hill/WireImage via Getty Images, Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images)That's because at runways like Area, long-legged models with high school soccer star faces and swishy hair dominated the casting board. Some, like teens Summer Dirx and Grace Van Petten, hail from the East Coast just like Earle; others come from Ukraine, the U.K. and Korea. But on the catwalk, they represented a million little Alixes, in all their American college-girl glory.
Charles Melton should be a bodyguardYou want Charles Melton working security if he ever decides to quit the whole Hollywood hot-guy thing.
AdvertisementAdvertisementMr. Melton was thrown into "stop the mob" mode at Coach, where paparazzi - and every fashion editor under 30 - swarmed Elle Fanning like she could grant them seven minutes in a closet with the Chalamet sibling of their choice. Even though she was wearing kitten heels, Fanning was briefly knocked backward by the crush of selfie-seekers. Melton managed to grab onto the sleeve of her denim trench coat and away from the TikTok-or-die horde, just in time for the actress to sink gracefully into her seat.
Charles Melton, Elle Fanning, Storm Reid at the Coach fashion show. (Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images)She laughed, everyone else laughed, it was totally fine. But if it comes out that the Riverdale dude was secretly CIA this whole time, we told you so.
Dylan O'Brien should babysit your dogAs a diehard Ginny & Georgia fan, I thought nothing would thrill me more than watching Brianne Howey walk in a fashion show this season. I was wrong. At Rachel Antonoff and Susan Alexandra's joint fashion bash in Brooklyn, celebrities were paired with rescue dogs on the runway in the hopes of finding these furballs forever homes.
Brianne Howey, Edie Falco, Geraldine Viswanathan at the Susan Alexandra x Rachel Antonoff Dog Show during New York Fashion Week. (Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty Images)Howey gamely walked a tiny puppy next to Emmy royalty Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Edie Falco (The Sopranos and/or Nurse Jackie, depending on your HBO era). They had style. They had flair. But there was Dylan O'Brien, movie star and Taylor Swift pal, calmly leading a pit bull across the stage. And sorry, all bets were off.
Dylan O'Brien with a furry friend on the runway.