Last night’s Paperball, at the MAD museum, was full of beer, paper and Madeline Albright.

The exhibition and party and dinner were split amongst five floors which meant me and my boots got quite the workout (the elevator moved at a glacial pace) and though the party party was mean to be on the sixth, everyone gathered on the second floor.

Bill Cunningham wove his way in and out of the exhibit, snapping pictures of girls in paper dresses, paper flowered hats and paper bow ties while I obsessed over Jen Kao’s dress. I’ve never touched anything in a museum (duh), but I had to reach out and poke it to make sure that it wasn’t leather. I still don’t really believe the laced up, shoulder padded shift is built from paper; it sat next to Bliss Lau’s corseted dress, inspired by The Great Gatsby (though we’re pretty sure Daisy would blush) and Zaldy’s fantastical swirling cocktail dress.

Last night Jen Kao finally showed her collection on a proper runway (we love a presentation, but runway energy can’t be beat) and even after day two, it’s the best thing we’ve seen.

The clothes were sexy, but cool sexy without screaming hipster. She used cutouts and texture and most importantly, seams to build streamlined silhouettes that look like they’d actually work on my 5’4” size 6 body. Her dresses and skinny pants, usually paired with slouchy sheer tops or paneled blouses, came in a dusty color palette of grey, pink and blue.

And as if the clothes weren’t enough, Eddie Borgo’s jewelry (his boyfriend Keegan Singh styled the show, too) and the chain mail shoe’s made me swoon. Every season there’s one shoe I can’t stop thinking about and these are holding steady in first place - even among the sea of thigh high boots in the front row.

The designer has a solid stable of cult fans - Julia Restoin Roitfeld and LSD sat front row - but once one of the two gowns she showed pops up on the red carpet, we expect she’ll be quite major.

The official Fashion Week calendar just dropped and so far we’ve learned that a lot of the big guys - Ralph, Oscar, Calvin - are throwing multiple shows.

But it’s the little ones we’re more interested in; it’s a very good sign when they take the plunge from presentation to runway. As of now, both Elise Overland and Jen Kao will stage proper runway shows for the first time. Last year, Elise featured a small runway within her presentation - the models stood on a platform at one end of the runway for most of the night and walked down every half hour or so. But this year she’ll forgo any standing still for a full on show.

So Little J Taylor Momsen’s collaborating with Jen Kao.

Momsen’s the singer in her band, Pretty Reckless, and they’re in need of costumes for their summer tour (going on tour at fifteen sounds crazy).

We didn’t know the Gossip Girl actress dabbled in design off set and we’re kind of impressed that her first foray into the industry is with the super talented and kind of under-the-radar Jen Kao.

Jen collaborated with jewelry designer Eddie Borgo for Fall 09 - only her third full collection - on a tight and successful edit of triangle-themed dresses.

Celebrity clothing lines are usually a disaster but this one’s full of promise.

To understand just how cool Jen Kao’s Fall 09 collection - only her third - is, you must first simply look at it: Ooh, this looks cool. But then it must be studied: Wow, amazing.

She explained to us this afternoon that she was inspired by the triangle and its place as, in her opinion, the strongest of the geometric shapes. If that sounds insane to you, consider the visual translation: Suede and denim triangular-paneled dresses, clingy tops made of jersey that somehow looks much stronger than a fabric best known for its easy draping, leather tops perforated with tiny triangles that look more like mesh but feel like a thick spider web, and triangular, metal sequins that lend the appearance of armor but with the quiet glitz of something you’d actually wear.

The collection, which was incredibly small for something that could suffice for a wardrobe - dresses, pants, shorts, leggings, hoodies, tops, they were all there - was complemented by jewelry from Eddie Borgo, who’s previously worked with Marchesa and Phillip Lim. Cosmically, Eddie was feeling the triangle for Fall 09, too, and his minimal yet high-impact designs around the girls’ necks and wrists really brought the idea full circle. Each girl looked kind of tough and strong, but not in an over-the-top neo-punk way, just enough so that you got the idea without any overkill.

Jen Kao is definitely someone to watch - and that’s the best possible final note for New York Fashion Week.

One of the challenges of New York Fashion Week is the sheer number of capable designers trying to mount their own work.

Since over a hundred catwalks and presentations get rolled out during the week, it’s inevitable that some very stylish traffic jams will occur, and as of now, the first takes place on Thursday, January 31st.

At 5 pm, young designer Catherine Holstein (left) mounts her first full presentation at Milk Studios in the Meatpacking District. Ms. Holstein is a Teen Vogue darling with the personal style of a rock star’s girlfriend and the posse of a regular Miu Miu shopper - Victoria Traina, Mary Kate, and the rest of the blondes too fabulous to be believed.

But also at 5pm is the second showing of Jen Kao, a recent design graduate whose beadwork and black eyeliner has also caught the eye of Teen Vogue, as well as Nylon and a steady stream of Beatrice-going socialites, not to mention the model Darla Baker, who’s one of the designer’s muses. She’s also friends with Ryan McGinley, who was enlisted last year to shoot the look book.

And again at 5pm, there’s Band of Outsiders, the ridiculously cool / successful / buzzy label by Scott Sternberg, a former Hollywood agent who’s since garnered a CFDA nomination and a steady following of celebrities like Cameron Diaz, Vogue editors like Sally Singer, and… well really, if you have those two people in your clothing corner, you don’t really need that much else.

Then at 6 it’s time for EarthPledge, the eco-fashion show to boast clothes by Givenchy, Stella McCartney, and just about every label from Barneys.

Are you tired yet?