>> Joseph Altuzarra may be a bit of a Vogue Paris darling — he told The Daily he credits Carine Roitfeld for encouraging him to start his own line, she's supported him by wearing a coat of his to Paris Fashion Week in March, and her former assistant and Vogue Paris junior editor Melanie Huynh styled his Spring 2010 show — but it sounds like he's committed to New York; he told The Daily: "We want to establish the brand as an integral part of the New York scene."

Altuzarra, like Alexander Wang, switched up his look this season, explaining to the New York Times: "When you start a collection, you have to push yourself to limits that may make you uncomfortable but that are also challenging.”  Instead of building on the body-conscious jersey minidresses from his Fall 2009 collection, he decided to channel the '70s with lots of olive suede and white ruffles.  The show, in which both muse Vanessa Traina and Dewi Driegen walked, attracted Colette's Sarah Lerfel, Giovanna Battaglia, Carine Roitfeld and daughter Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Steven Kolb, Fabien Baron, plus Alexander Wang, who showed up midway through (his show was slotted right before Joseph's) and watched from the back next to Cathy Horyn, who had gotten up from the front row to stand next to the photographers right before show started.

Altuzarra expanded from 18 looks last season to 29 this season, and dreams of continuing to move further forward; as he told The Daily:

I basically work and live in the same place, which can be really good or really bad. We want to grow by baby steps, but I'm very happy now . . . A few more clothes and a large shoe and jewelry line would be nice, though. Our immediate goal, of course, is to find an office space and move operations out of my apartment.

>> I've run into a number of people this week that don't know this name, but trust, you'll want to know: Altuzarra.  The native French designer, Joseph Altuzarra, put in a short amount of time at both Marc Jacobs and Givenchy and came out with a sensibility more up the Helmut Lang or Jil Sander alley.  Streamlined, well-cut camel coats were paired with body-conscious pants, soft matte jersey in cream or lavender-gray was draped, shaped, and seamed into of-the-moment dresses — some with padded shoulders — and metallic gunmetal numbers, combined with snippets of what looked like stretch neoprene, finished out his cocktail trifecta.  Even with just this second collection, Altuzarra proved he is one of the major talents just on the horizon — and he had some heavy hitters in attendance — Barneys fashion director Julie Gilhart, Vanessa Traina, who posed for his Spring 2009 lookbook — to prove it.
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>> Even established designers are editing, editing, editing for Fashion Week — the number of models, the number of looks, the amount of fabric used — but the tight times aren't keeping a crop of new blood away.  Joining former Bill Blass design director Prabal Gurung and Swaim and Christina Hutson, who are starting over with a new label, in the mix — alums of Central Saint Martins, FIT, and Parsons; apprentices of Marc Jacobs, J.Mendel, and Ralph Lauren; but most importantly, New York Fashion Week virgins — show us what you've got.
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>> He showed for the first time ever at New York Fashion Week — by appointment only — and already he's getting major buzz.

As Mickey Boardman at Paper put it, "The name all those in-the-know were dropping was Joseph Altuzarra. French Vogue . . . told Paper that Altuzarra, who worked previously at Proenza Schouler and Givenchy, is the one [to] watch from New York Fashion Week." Stores are vying for exclusives on his first collection — and he's got a lookbook model in Vanessa Traina, who chipped in her two cents: "The right magazines came to see his stuff, the right stores want to buy it—which means, personally, it’s been a pretty good week for the guy."  And Julia Restoin-Roitfeld already wore one of his dresses to the Calvin Klein 40th Anniversary party last week.

But the part that really sticks with me is Vanessa Traina being in the lookbook — seems like Joseph is just where Alexander Wang was a couple of years ago, when he was just starting out and had Vanessa modeling in his lookbook.
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