Noo Yoik Noo Yoik it’s a wonderful town. The Bronx is up and the Battery’s down or something like that. Yes yes yes, it's New York Fashion Week EVE today! Are you excited? We certainly are; the thought of new collections to inspire our sun-deprived eyes has been one of the main things keeping us going during dreary January and drizzly Feb.

Here are the rumours, whispers and predictions that are doing the rounds this morning, prior to the imminent big week of shows.

Abbey Lee Kershaw has let it be known that she won’t be gracing the shows with her colt-like limbs, as she be in London with rock band, Our Mountain, with her boyfriend Matthew Hutchinson whose main job it is.  She’ll be back to work as usual for Paris and Milan. Meanwhile other Australian models sweeping up her work will include Jessica Hart, Annaleise Smith, Elyse Taylor, Codie Young, Emilia Skuza, Skye Stracke AND Andrej Pejic, the “femiman” who Jean Paul Gaultier recently cast in both his menswear and couture shows (as the bride in the latter). Oooh, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for him.

The gossip amongst fashionistas will include plenty of chat about personnel changes at the top levels of NY department store Barneys; they have replaced their CEO, their Creative Director and Fashion Director, recently in an effort to turn around their financial fortunes. Oh yes, and wasn’t there some magazine that recently replaced its editor in chief with its fashion director? Oh yes HER! Apparently Carine and Emmanuelle are now no longer even speaking to each other, so frosty has the atmosphere become after the departure of La Roitfeld. We wonder why not?

Bryanboy will be mending bridges with all the top tier editors and veterans of fashion week reporting that have previously thought of him as an annoying pushy upstart by being followed by a REALITY TV CAMERA CREW to all the shows he attends. That should warm them up to you, BB.

Several insiders are predicting that more than a couple of designers will be downsizing their shows in an attempt to make them more intimate, more exclusive and, well, more like Mr Tom Ford basically. Derek Lam, Zac Posen and Alexander Wang are three such.

Oh and if all of THAT wasn’t enough to keep you amused between shows and parties, then there is the perennial COURTNEY WATCH. Although she is still a rock Goddess, she is now something of a fixture on the international fashion show scene and every show she attends she stamps on more protocol and breaks more rules than the last – causing a lot of consternation from the uptight fash pack. We for one will bring you regular sightings of Ms Love so stay tuned to Grazia Daily for show reports, FROW action and much much more!

Enjoy . . . .

- Naomi Attwood