Backstage before the show, designer Kimberly Ovitz warned us this collection would be “a lot darker” than past seasons, and indeed it was: The collection was almost entirely all-black, with a few grey, olive and brown looks thrown in for good measure.

Ovitz told us she was inspired by the figure of “the warrior,” and that the collection was all about embodying the warrior’s attributes: “Perseverance, vitality, vigor,” she said. It’s hard to say whether or not the clothing conveyed such intangible attributes, but we will say that the belts and necklaces made out of what looked like human hair did seem to send the message: “Don’t fuck with me or I’ll scalp you.”

You’ve got to hand it to Kate Spade’s niece Whitney Pozgay: Girl knows how to take the Berry Street hipster just outside of her comfort zone. In the four seasons since the Phoenix-born, Brooklyn-based designer (who honed her chops at her aunt’s uptown bastion of style and as lead womenswear designer for Steven Alan) launched her eponymous line, she’s centered her presentations of quirky-chic separates around geographical themes ranging from ’60s California surf culture to her childhood in the Southwest.

So what then is the focus for Pozgay’s first-ever runway show? “Each collection the Whit girl goes somewhere different, and this time she goes the furthest from her natural habitat,” the designer laughs. “Outer space!”

Upon walking into the Chatwal Hotel to see Jenni Kayne’s Fall offerings we observed the designer’s nanny tending to her new-ish born baby as it sobbed beside the lobby’s inviting canteen of warm apple cider. While the scenario may seem trivial, it was rather signature of Kayne whose laid-back vibe was in play from the get-go, lending a soft sense of humanism to a week that’s so often anything but.

Kayne’s clothes have become well-loved for their easy femininity—fool proof pieces to help you stylishly battle everyday life through each triumph and mood swing. While this season was slightly less designed than past outings, there were still plenty of items that made a roomful of girls swoon, many battling for a chance to wind their way through two small racks that housed Kayne’s fall collection.

Costello Tagliapietra took a more eccentric route this season with a Misshapes-DJ’d soundtrack and a diverse front row scene.

“I think it’s fun to come and see the [models] not fall over, though I live for the one who has a little smile,” explained a newspaper-capped Susan Sarandon who sat beside Top Chef host Padma Lakshimi.

While smiles didn’t abound on the runway, they certainly did in the audience—a collection of revelers who, regardless of their inability to pronounce the designers’ tongue-tying names, have come to know and love Costello Tagliapietra’s signature flair for drapery just as much as the duo’s personal penchants for Brawny-man plaid.

After three seasons of showing in the official Fashion Week tents, Cynthia Rowley went rogue and held her Fall/Winter 2012 show at the Frank Gehry-designed IAC Building (a.k.a. Diane Von Furstenberg’s husband Barry Diller’s offices or that funky white structure, on the West Side Highway, that looks like an odd snow formation.) But once the show started (roughly 30 minutes late—early by fashion standards), it was pretty evident why the venue choice was kind of genius. The New York-based fashion designer is an art aficionado in her spare time and for this showing, she displayed a pretty impressive black and white mosaic of flat screen live-action video from the catwalk as a backdrop to the actual runway show–a perfect match to the building’s super sleek and modern facade.

The lovely and youthful Rowley can always be depended on for her playful, art-inspired designs and the same can be said for her line-sheets. This time, she listed “mechanics, cobblers, & leathermen”, “women artists making big, strong work” and “Rachel Feinstein’s carriages” as inspirations, plus “Youtube breaks” and “Portlandia clips” as recess activities.