A quick re-cap of Erin Fetherston’s fall show. Ignore Rachel Zoe’s head, in the lower right-hand corner. 

“It’s not reality,” said Rachel Zoe, “It’s an unscripted documentary.” And with those overheard words– said with a sigh and a cackle–fashion week officially began. Though the starifier was not speaking of fashion week per se (Zoe was explaining her new show and the relentless swarm of cameras around her to her fellow front-rower Damon Dash), she did a bang-up job of saying much about the industry’s 7 long days of chaos in the same number of words.

Meanwhile, Erin Fetherston’s show told the rest: Winsome girls (both on and off the runway) decked out in savvily-styled threads, savory music, and the unveiling of a few strong trends. For fall, Fetherston tempered her joie-de-vie aesthetic with darker, more somber layers–specifically chunky black knits, quilted velvet, and filmy black lace. Dainty floral prints were emboldened by the use of vivid photo-prints of oversized blooms on black silk. Could it be that the pioneer of the recent fairytale trend has a dark side too? Certainly spending a few weeks in NYC–be it during fashion’s high holidays or not–can bring out the edge in anyone.