Fashion: Is it in or is it out?

With the future of the United State's economy looking dim, the fashion industry is doing better than expected, and is deinitely still "In".

The recent New York's Fashion Week definitely fought for its place in fashion, but the clothing presented by the designers was less risque than usual. According to Kate Betts from TIME "With some european fashion houses reporting a 22% increase in prices and with consumer confindence and spending way down, this is not the time for designers or retailers to take fashion risks"

However, there is still a strong belief that this will not stop this powerhouse business in New York. "Fashion never goes down. Designers know that their target markets will be looking for versatile garments to wear wear during these hard times. Designers tend to know what WE want/need." said Janice Lei Marie Hernandez, student at NYC Fashion Institute of technology.

According to GLM's Predictive Quantities Index however, New York has fallen into the 2nd spot on the list, being overtaken by Milan. "The parties were not as big," says Global Language Monitor president Paul Payak. Payak also mentioned the same as betts, the designers weren't as glamorous, and they turned down their presentations a lot from past runway shows.

This weak economy has injured the fashion business, but not completlely as an art. It has caused a challenge of creating simple outfits, instead of the avant garde outfits seen before. Simplicty in fashion is one of the most difficult things to achieve, but most top designers such as Ralph Lauren have achieved it in this past Fashion Week.

Well known fashion designers are creating clothing lines for stores such as Anna Sui's line out for Target to reflect a more attainable set of wardrobe based on the TV show Gossip Girl. Also, shoe designer, Jimmy Choo, is going to debuting a shoe line at H&M this fall.

This economy is not only a challenge for the fasihion industry, but for fashionistas as well. This is challenging their styling skills while being on a budget. The fashion industry will have to accommodate the needs of the consumers on a budget.

New York may be down economically, but with the people coming from all over the world to see all of New York's trend setters, it will never be out.