Spectacle has its purpose, but what on the runway can women wear to work? Here are a few stand-out looks from the Paris fashion week shows that won't embarrass a CEO.

Designer Toni Maticevski has not yet broken into the mainstream in the U.S. though he's a successful designer in his native Australia. His stateside insider status is partly by design. While Maticevski shows during the New York shows, he doesn't actively court retailers or celebrities. His shows, which combine a mix of fragile dresses with an occasional aggressive touch, are meant to appeal to private clients. In a zig away from runway routine, the designer does not leave collection and inspiration notes on front row seats, arguing that his clothes should be strong enough to communicate his design motifs.

While Maticevski's aesthetic veers more towards the avant-garde than mainstream, his intellectual take on classic beauty will find fans among fashion-forward women who want to wear something feminine yet subversive.

Designers interchanged materials and tailoring but the styling always played with proportions.

At Alexander Wang and Charlotte Ronson, boxy sleeveless jackets were paired with sexy skin-baring blouses.

Ralph Lauren and Isaac Mizrahi pulled the jacket closer to the body, but balanced out the look with loose pants.

And sometimes, the jacket was a statement piece in itself, as in Diane von Furstenberg's head-turning orange creation.

One way to gauge a fashion designer's prominence is by the fame quotient of his or her front row. At Diane von Furstenberg's shows, the star-wattage extends as far back as the third and fourth rows. Editors who are normally front row fixtures elsewhere were pushed back for an A-list group Sunday that included Graydon Carter, Candace Bergen, Rachel Zoe, Terry Richardson and "Gossip Girl" stars Blake Lively and Kelly Rutherford.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America gave out their top prizes last night, handing out the industry's equivalent of an Oscar or an Emmy. What was easily the best-dressed group in all of Manhattan gathered in the newly revamped Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center to celebrate the industry and each other.

Rodarte, a young label that was recognized last year with an award for emerging womenswear designers, took home the top prize of Womenswear Designer of the Year. Sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy's distressed, futuristic-yet-gothy designs, a favorite among fashion editors and starlets, beat out Marc Jacobs and Narciso Rodriguez.

Interest in the First Ladies' inauguration gown goes back to George Washington. On the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration, a look back at some of the most famous evening dresses in the world.

See more photos.

Photo Slideshow: From 'Sex and the City' to the final farewell of Yves Saint Laurent, a look back at 2008's most memorable fashion moments.

Tomorrow, Christie’s London will auction off an unusual collection of avant-garde fashions that each make a political statement about a moment in time during the last half century. The lots contain over 250 pieces from the personal collection of Katy Rodriguez and Mark Haddawy, owners of Resurrection, a vintage boutique with locations in New York and Los Angeles.

See more photos.

From statement necklaces to sheer dressing, here is a roundup of some of Spring 2009's trends.

Next April might indeed be the cruelest month, if Spring 2009 collections are any indication. Bondage styling appeared in several shows, including those by Thakoon and Narciso Rodriguez.

Despite spring’s archetypal association with soft pastels and printed florals, designers instead offered an edgier evening option.

Click to view more bondage styles.

Photo Slideshow: The sky is the limit when it comes to heel height. As heels get higher, designers are engineering ways to obtain new elevation.

New York fashion week's Spring 2009 runways were a potpourri of styles meant to serve as an escape from the current economic climate. But there were a few standing motifs that peppered collections and which designers hope will ignite impulse buys despite tighter pocketbooks. Here are some of the trends to look for next spring.

Click to view more royal styles.

For the Spring 2009 runway collections this September and October, designers in New York, Paris and Milan looked both forward and backward in time for inspiration. The 1980s were a common cultural touchstone, but nearly every decade since the 1920s was represented on the runway, albeit updated for the modern woman.

There were futurist designs, too. Designers such as Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquière featured avant-garde structuring, innovative textiles and new silhouettes for tomorrow’s wardrobes.

There are two ways one can approach dressing for the downturn. There is the understated look, full of somber gray cashmeres and navy wools. Then there is the carefree credit crunch approach, where the clothes provide a gleeful respite from gloomy times. One tactic? Pretend you’re royalty.

Regal motifs, including Elizabethan ruffs, elaborate shoulders or Empire waists have been on the runways for a few seasons now.

Click to view more royal styles.

The jumpsuit can connote everything from children’s clothing to workmen’s uniforms and late-era disco styling. For several seasons now, designers — especially those with audiences that skew young — have offered variations on the jumpsuit.

Click to view more jumpsuits.

Nearly every runway season, spring or fall, designers offer a fresh take on gold fabrics and styling. Gold is a malleable color which designers have forged into looks ranging from aggressive sex-appeal (see Dolce & Gabbana’s Fall 2007 crumpled gold dress) to head-turning elegance (Oscar de la Renta’s Spring 2008 beaded column gown). And in perhaps a nod to how investors buy gold as a safety net in tough times, several designers have spun gold looks for next spring.

Click to view more golden styles.

When avant-garde houses Maison Martin Margiela and Comme des Garcons played with peek-a-boo dressing some seasons back, they created clothes that looked unfinished or that mimicked exposed undergarments — and launched a look that has continued on the runways.

Click to view more see-through styles.

Like the “It” bag and status shoes, designers have turned the necklace into a statement piece — and a consistent revenue source.

Since the early 2000s, necklaces from Lanvin and Vera Wang to Prada have taken on more and more heft with each passing season. The unapologetically chunky jewelry , featuring stacked, oversized beads and pendants, can offset minimalist or demure designs. Another sales appeal: It’s more likely to be more comfortable, and sometimes less overtly recognizable, than the season’s “It” heels (just look to Prada’s stumbling shoes for spring).

New York fashion week's Spring 2009 runways were a potpourri of styles meant to serve as an escape from the current economic climate. But there were a few standing motifs that peppered collections and which designers hope will ignite impulse buys despite tighter pocketbooks. Here are some of the trends to look for next spring.

Wedged between New York and Milan fashion weeks, London fashion week often plays host to the next generation of fashion darlings. Here’s a peek at the looks of some of the designers who showcased their Spring 2009 collections in London this week.

Designers often begin their collections with a mood or inspiration board. Like haute magpies, designers gather images, trinkets and scraps that resonate with them and tack them onto a board to help them better visualize ideas for their clothes. As inchoate themes start to take shape, sketches and fabric swatches may be added.

A month before her collection was due to make its New York fashion week debut, designer Erin Fetherston gave the Wall Street Journal a peek into her design process. Fairy princesses, dragonflies and images of dreamy models were sifted into what became Ms. Fetherston's Spring 2009 collection, titled "East of the Sun and West of the Moon."

About three weeks before fashion week starts, the offices of casting directors, stylists and designers are flooded with show packages containing cards of models that agencies want to promote for the bi-annual runway shows. Model cards are meant to provide basic stats on available models for hire: A typical card features photos of a model, his or her measurements and contact information.

In the last few years, the show package has evolved from a simple informational tool to an industry art form.

If you had a collection of old magazines, would you spend over $50,000 on a box to house it?

The Visionaire Goyard trunk will house the magazine's first 50 issues in a hand-made trunk.

That's how much Visionaire magazine – a publication where design, marketing, style, trends and art intersect – is charging for a special Goyard trunk designed for its collectors.

This summer, Visionaire will also offer 10 complete sets of its first 50 issues in the Goyard trunks for $150,000.

Maverick Dutch designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have cultivated a reputation for showing whimsical clothes in highly theatrical runway settings. So when London's Barbican Art Gallery approached the duo for a retrospective, the quirky designers wanted to do something playful. The result: A three-story playhouse showcasing dolls dressed in miniature Viktor & Rolf designs.

Auto makers are turning to the fashion world to inject some hipness into their brands and distinguish themselves as features and reliability become more standardized.

According to Wes Brown, partner at consumer research and trend consulting firm Iceology, luxury consumers view vehicles as fashion statements that convey who they are or whom they want people to think they are. "We've done research and literally, we've had people in the room say, 'My BMW or my Jeep is the last thing I put on before I go out,'" Mr. Brown said.

Celebrity hairstylist Peter Butler, who has coiffed Natalie Portman, Claire Danes and Avril Lavigne, created the women's hair styles for the Rock & Republic show Saturday night. We went backstage with Mr. Butler as he prepped the models for the runway.

Ashleigh Verrier has been designing for several years now. But last night she showed her first runway collection in the Salon in Bryant Park.

"I hope that when our customers see this collection for the first time, they'll feel that it's a little bit more grown up than last season," Ms. Verrier, 26, said.

She found the inspiration for her Fall 2008 collection in an unlikely spot: "The theme of Russia came through a trip I took to Tokyo, believe it or not," she said. She witnessed young Japanese women sporting ladylike outfits, but it was their use of fur headbands that reminded Ms. Verrier of Russian czarinas and their Hollywood counterpart, Julie Christie in "Doctor Zhivago."

"This past year I've done a lot of growing up," Ms. Verrier says. "Now that we've been in business for three years, it's put myself in a different mindset [where] I'm becoming confident with the decisions I have to make. Hopefully, the result is in the clothes."

Purple: from runway to highway When the models wearing Betsey Johnson's spring/summer 2008 collection sashayed down the runway at New York Fashion Week in September, their sky-blue tulle skirts and cotton-candy-pink prom dresses were noted by sundry fashion editors, retail buyers, celebrities and photographers. Also in the audience: Jon Hall, Ford Motor Co.'s chief paint designer.

Clothing designers are currently working on fall 2008's fashions, but design teams at auto makers like Ford, General Motors Corp. and Volkswagen AG's Audi are tweaking the paint choices consumers will be reviewing for cars in 2011 and beyond. Companies are paying more attention to color because consumers are, and having the right -- or wrong -- color in stock can affect the bottom line.