Fashion Week: threeASFOUR Bring Fashion to the People (Sort of); Tavi Works the Night Shift at Alice + Olivia; Kanye West and Alexa Chung Check Out 3.1 Phillip Lim

David Wentworth

Take me to your leader.

"Yeah, that's right, I'm talking to you, asshole!" screamed one man at another before the threeASFOUR show. However, we should be clear that this man wasn't exactly an invited guest. He was taking it all in from a bench on the perimeter of the concrete rectangle that is Sara Delano Roosevelt Park, where the presentation was being held. As the man then proceeded to mutter to himself, we considered what a potentially risky idea it was for the designers to choose this pocket at the corner of Broome and Chrystie streets in Chinatown for their presentation.

But the show went smoothly. In fact, we wouldn't mind seeing more designers embrace unconventional venues (for instance, you must watch this clip from 1994, featuring Spike Jonze, Sofia Coppola, and a pregnant Kim Gordon, when X-Girl did their runway show on the street).

Looking like they'd just landed their UFO around the corner, the models entered the park in long white robes, with minimal makeup and shiny metallic clips across their noses. Taking their places around a white spiral sculpture, which had a film by Christina Kruse projected onto it, the models disrobed to reveal stunning pieces by the avant-garde design team of Angela Donhauser, Adi Gil, and Gabriel Asfour. Highlights of the out-of-this-world collection included the "black hole" jacket and pants in cotton twill and perforated leather, a black "vortex" swimsuit in spandex and mesh paired with a see-through chiffon dress, and a white mini dress adorned with silvery pieces that looked like the Milky Way had rubbed off on it. Really lovely stuff.

David Wentworth

Alice + Olivia

Later on Tuesday night, it was an entirely different scene at the Alice + Olivia show/party at Cedar Lake in Chelsea, where stars, including True Blood's Joe Manganiello (whoa, ladies! Stop pushing!) and Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss (love her!), lined up to have their photos taken. Meanwhile, we spotted Tavi Gevinson's father trying to get past the bouncer to get backstage to meet his daughter, who reportedly styled the outfits worn by the night's performers Amanda Blank and The Pieces (really, should children be working so late at night?).

Partygoers sipped fruity blue cocktails while models lounged in quirky vintage-inspired clothes on a set that looked like a bohemian hangout. Designer Stacey Bendet, whose theme for the collection was "timeless travel," put together a mishmash of pieces inspired by different decades. Paisley! Floral prints! Feathers! Lace! Ruffles! Bellbottoms! You name it, it was there. Bendet's latest venture is shoes, and there were many fun heels and platform sandals (leopard print!) for the Alice + Olivia fan to drool over. All the mixing and matching made us think Tavi must have been an inspiration.

David Wentworth

You can't tell, but Tavi styled this look

On Wednesday afternoon, the show for 3.1 Phillip Lim took place at the Park Avenue Armory, where Lim fans Alexa Chung and Kanye West had front-row seats. Last spring, Lim played with bright red, lavender, silver, and chartreuse. This time, the colors were more subdued with tan, sable, blue, gray, and black. Keeping it sporty, he had pieces such as hand-embroidered track pants and leather drawstring shorts. Sheer is a huge trend for spring, and Lim did it right (the organza piped trench was glorious). And, in the most interesting twist of the collection, Lim created lambskin halter tabards (picture little aprons), embroidered tabards, and organza tabardettes to be layered over shirts and dresses. Sweet!