When the first five looks hit the runway at the Banana Republic fashion show yesterday—a denim trench, chambray shirts, and distressed jeans—it looked like Creative Director and EVP of Design, Simon Kneen, was headed back to Great Depression much like Ralph Lauren did for spring. Instead the denim looks gave way to Banana Republic staples including cropped peacoats, ruffle trim tanks, cotton cardigans, and wrinkled linen dresses.

For women there were great leather moto jackets in white and cognac, classic khaki trench coats and easy, colorful day dresses. As for accessories, the season's obsession with the clog continues. Models rocked what might be one of the best (and most affordable) styles we've seen thus far—gray and tan leather slingbacks with an open toe.

The men were casual yet cool in straw fedoras, navy blazers, suede boat shoes and drawstring pants. Overall, the show offered exactly what we love to see at Banana Republic—comfortable classics with a subtle nod to the season's most important trends.

Nicolas Ghesquière returned to urban futurism for spring 2010, dismissing last season's draped cocktail dresses for skinny motocross pants, hooded vests, and ankle boots.

Cathy Horyn called it "graphic, tough and linear" and noted Ghesquière's mix of materials and textures kept the collection from not looking new enough. Suzy Menkes agreed writing, "It had the feeling of clothes never before seen quite like this, even if the first silhouettes of skinny pants touched on the geometry that the designer previously had drawn up for Balenciaga."

The beauty look—black shadow streaked like racing stripes and eyes smudged with florescent orange, blue, yellow and green—was also noteworthy, mimicking Ghesquière's pops of color tucked between leather tops.

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Celebrating new London headquarters and the 25th anniversary of London Fashion Week, Christopher Bailey brought Burberry back home from the runways in Milan where he had been showing the Prorsum collection for the past eight years.

As Mario Testino put it, there was a full-on red carpet outside the white Burberry tent in London today, appropriate for the star-studded front row rolling in for the fashion show including Gwyneth Paltrow and Liv Tyler—seen holding hands over Emma Watson—Victoria Beckham, Mary Kate Olsen, Freida Pinto and Dev Patel, Jacquetta Wheeler, Agyness Deyn, Anna Wintour, and Carine Roitfeld.

According to Bailey spring 2010 is the season of the belt at Burberry, and that meant cinched waists on a pastel palette of dresses and skirts—think lavender, pale pink and mint green—all twisted, pleated and draped. Bailey transformed traditional Burberry pieces into new and unexpected shapes with texture, adding a fresh sculptural quality to his collection. Even the classic beige trench received an update for spring—looking ultra modern with gathered puffed-up shoulders, ruched sleeves, and a knotted hem in back.

As for the A-list crowd in attendance, they all headed straight to that new Burberry building for an after party where we hear computers have been set up for easy tweeting. Allow Style.com's Fashion Feed to help you be there in spirit.

Ralph Lauren looked to Dust Bowl era workers—"the farmer, the cowboy, the pioneer woman" according to the show notes—for his spring 2010 collection.

As one can imagine, the theme translated loosely into a whole lot of denim—all mashed up in a variety of color washes and levels of destruction. Lauren showed destroyed denim boyfriend trousers paired with workwear  shirts, menswear vests and newsboy hats; pinstriped three piece suites with T-strap Spectator pumps; and Holly Hobbie housewife dresses with tight bodices and flared skirts.

For evening there were sequined nightshirts and low-waisted flapper-style dresses. Perhaps a little harder to sell was a silver gown made to look like a pair of overalls. That said, Lauren's message was overall optimistic and a celebration of what is uniquely American.

Phi is one of the few young luxury labels to be selling through this fall despite the rough financial times, and Andreas Melbostad's spring 2010 collection will no doubt continue to fly off shelves.

Since taking over the design reigns of the Susan Dell-backed brand in the spring of 2005, Melbostad has created a cult label for luxury-loving tough girls. For spring 2010 he presented a collection of black, white, and nude looks focusing on his now signature panel pant and biker jacket combination and adding a few new silhouettes—think calf-lengh body-con skirts, corset tops, and long blazers all worn with matching slouchy, stacked heel combat boots. 

Metallic encrusted jeans, see-through knits, and biker jackets in white and nude, to name a few, will surely make the sold out lists this spring.

As many designers lighted up their collections this season, Doo Ri Chung increased the hard-edge for spring 2010. The first look—a quilted silk dress with sculpted shoulders—set the tone for a show that built upon Chung's signature draped jersey pieces by bulking up the fabrics with overlays of tulle and introducing thin chain details.

The majority of the collection was stone, silver or slate, with a poppy pink chiffon blouse and tulle dress being the most aggressive displays of color. Standout cocktail pieces included a sculpted blue dress with tulle netting, a blush jersey dress snaked and dripping in chains, and a pearl gray pleated mini. An asymmetrical gray vest that capped the shoulders in half circles of delicate chains also made an impact.

Chung's inspiration from artist Annette Messager's sculptural installations was clear in her turn to more structured silhouettes, and in the models' matte gray lipstick and wire necklaces.

Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez presented a collection for spring 2010 that cool girls-about-town are dying to wear right now; they just didn't know it until last night, and that's the beauty of Proenza Schouler.

The designers told Style.com's Nicole Phelps yesterday after their runway show at Milk Studios that they wanted to design something young and fresh and looked to surf and skate as inspirations. They were also building upon a well-received resort 2010 collection in the evolution of scuba-style details and tie-dye prints.

Their use of tie-dye was more futuristic than hippie, and to this McCollough and Hernandez added incredible acid-colored animal prints that evoked oil puddles sitting in the sun. There were loads of subtle embellishments in the collection—micro ruffles, tiny feathers, sequins and tinsel—as seen on short flared skirts paired with neon body suits.

Some models had green or purple tints in their hair, which emphasized the just-out-of-the-swamp-water look, and accessories were stand-out—killer cuffs, wedges and rainbow chain strap handbags.

Inside the largest tent at Bryant Park, Anna Sui presented a spring 2010 collection she described as "inspired by the circus scenes in 'Doctor Dolittle'... very Sixties Victorian."

Accordingly Sui staged her show in front of a huge pink and black circus tent, and the first model walked out to sounds from the big top which morphed into The Who's "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhre" and "I Can't Explain".

The collection continued to follow the same three-ring-circus-meets-the-Sixties theme, as Sui showed tall marching band hats, embroidered capes and cropped jackets with rope epaulettes and then "wallpaper prints" in combinations of green, brown and orange along with purple linen chambray dresses and floral appliqué headscarfs.

As always, Sui puts on an entertaining show full of feel-good looks, and this season was no exception. It was obvious Sui instructed the models to smile and act like they were having fun when they hit the end of the runway—a direction some felt comfortable with (Sasha, Chanel), and others not so much.

Fashion editors and buyers headed to the upper east side of Manhattan this afternoon for Oscar de la Renta's spring 2010 collection.

We imagine Oscar de la Renta's shows feel similar to runway presentations of the past—the models walk at a slower pace along a raised runway, and  thanks to two back to back showings, the crowd is smaller and controlled—a welcome change of scene at the end of a hectic week in the tents.

For spring 2010 Oscar de la Renta told WWD, he was designing "clothes for a modern woman—fresh and feminine." Surely his uptown clientele will be pleased with his elegant display of 53 looks, many presented in lovely jewel tones of teal or purple. Also using plenty of metallics, black, and white, some of de la Renta's most standout pieces displayed delicate details—a white silk crochet knit with a tweed embroidered skirt and jacket would look modern and appropriate on expensive ladies who lunch, as would a stunning white belted sheath with hyacinth and black floral print embroidery. Also of note, belted coats, safari jackets, and the evening dresses that closed the show—looking most new in black lace or tulle with a peak of a peridot bandeau underneath.

Orlando Pita coiffed model's hair into swiss miss braids (a la Yulia Tymoshenko, the Ukrainian Prime Minister) or covered it in slanted hats by Patricia Underwood and black and white lace veils and headscarfs.