Trends but few friends

When New York Fashion Week controversially moved its position in the catwalk season running order, so that rather than happening after London, Milan and Paris, it took an early slot before the others, the idea was to give the city's fashion scene some breathing space out of the shadow of Europe. No longer could London claim New York was copying its ideas; no longer would buyers arrive weary.

It was a good plan, and for many seasons it worked. But this time it backfired. Despite some strong shows and nice clothes, it felt like a cocktail party that passed without incident, ending with taxis called at a civilised hour rather than a highly charged all-back-to-mine rave-up.

A few examples: Alexander Wang's show was strong, but the drop-waists and softly voluminous silhouettes, along with the choice of the ticketing hall of the Cunard building as a venue, framed it clearly as a precursor to Wang's much-anticipated debut at Balenciaga next week. It was more a wave to Paris than a bow to New York.

And then there was Oscar de la Renta, the colossus of American fashion, whose show was dominated by chatter about his infamous intern from across the Atlantic, John Galliano. More than anything else, the rescheduling of Marc Jacobs' mainline show to a graveyard slot on Valentine's night, a delay caused by the non-arrival of fabrics following the Nemo blizzard, put the week off-kilter, as if someone had moved Christmas Day to December 30 at a few days' notice, leaving you unsure when to don your party hat.

There was something inevitable about the fact that the undisputed model of the week was a Brit. If there's one thing you need to do to be on-trend right now, it is to become obsessed with Cara Delevingne, whose caterpillar eyebrows stomped down almost every catwalk last week. With a Twitter feed featuring snaps of her snogging Rita Ora and eating packets of Monster Munch, she did her level best to liven up New York.