To celebrate the kick off of New York Fashion Week we've produced five teaser videos for the Spring 09 season. Last week, amid the inevitable chaos of designers and their pr offices, we snuck in and said hello to some of our favorite New York designers. That is Jerry Tam of Form, Ashleigh Verrier, Steinunn Sigurd of Steinunn, Chris Han, and Brandy Lunsford of Harlan Bel. In the teasers you'll discover a glimpse of the inspiration behind their collections and what each designer does to prepare for Fashion Week. When the time comes, we'll be posting their respective Spring 09 fashion shows (or presentations) and a little backstage action to boot.

We're a little excited for the weekend to be here and thought we'd just get this out of the way. We're going to suggest you take tomorrow off completely. We know, we know--you have to 'work', but hear us out. First of all, if you're anything like us you've been working all summer, writing/reading/dreaming about going away from behind your desk. That, if you ask us, is not okay. Especially with the insanity of fashion week quickly approaching. We're going to need to be well-rested because we're going to have to absorb a lot of information (and champagne) and someone along the line will snap and scream in our faces or do something else completely unladylike and declasse. These are things you need to prepare for. To that end, if in New York, we've got you covered. Today marks the start of a nice little sample sale with brands like Form, Jenny Yuen, Whistle & Flute, and Fremont. The sample sale includes silk jersey dresses that were 600 and now hover around 100 and it's in Nolita of all places (170 Elizabeth Street). So, get up late, go there at noon when it opens, and grab lunch in the neighborhood thereafter. Later on, you know, that whole bicoastal Opening Ceremony Olympics party gets underway. The Friday night party is private (cough, cough, 8808NYC@openingceremony.us) and it goes from 7-10. After that, grab a bottle of wine, a kick ball, and some friends and go to the park. Parks at night are what summer is all about. Especially when you're wearing something you just got at an end-of-season sample sale and it's all in celebration of the Olympics.