We know how much I adore fashion week street style! Even with the bloggers/influencers/head-to-toe gifted brand looks. When a great pedestrian fashion moment is captured, the look transcends the moment, the screen, and even the wearer. It becomes a time capsule of that particular fashion show, within that city, that season and whatever trends are dominating the zeitgeist.

I know that so many of us are tired of the repetitive cycle that has plagued the industry for generations, but who among us can truly be cynical about impeccable street style?

The women captured by Noor-u-Nisa Khan for Copenhagen Fashion Week harken back to the tents— as in OG Bryant Park, the room where it happened for decades of NYC fashion shows. I can never overstate how crashing my sister’s first ever NYFW in 2008 (eek— how old are we?!) completely upended my life. Baby face pressed to the white flaps of the Mercedes-Benz sponsored venue, my eyes were popped wide open to a world that truly honored art and design and taste and a strong point of view. I have been circling New York City as my core source of inspiration since that fateful weekend.

In honor of that moment and the undeniable truth of fashion/retail, here are a few of the best girls from CFW.

Above— these are the cool girls, mean (in a nice way) girls, NYC darling girls that you see outside of a show who could be models, editors or style-obsessed bankers. They transcend categories because everywhere they go, they belong. I invite you to view this exquisite capture from the bottom-up. Something about those scruffy boots against that dipped-in-dirt crochet dress makes it impossible for me to look away. These women are wearing their real clothes, shoes, bags, hair, jewelry and I am transported to a backroom table at Lil’ Frankies, confident that I am amongst the coolest people in the western hemisphere.

Below— Basically copy/paste re: cool/mean/darling girls. This is an I-Spy of sartorial goodness, so just zoom in and take a moment. Like most beautiful women, she almost loses the style battle to her gorgeous face and enviable hair. However, her outfit deserves the stamina to move past a pretty pout. The zoot suit tie, gold tooth and cocky stance are a Black History Month tribute and reminder that we are the culture. I also love the peek of leopard print, girly lavender and hint of a chain at her hem. Yes, ma’am!

Above— Any good street style shot conveys the context of the moment. It’s very rarely just about the subject in view, and almost always more about what’s swirling around in the background. This one is all about the neutrals, the outerwear and the bags. The impeccable leopard print suit almost obscures the of-the-moment handle of her Laur Ana bag. I cannot adequately express how much I love the puffy bigness of her coat sleeves, and the foreground leopard print (maybe embraced in a between shows hug…) is perfect symmetry. Behind her is shearling for days and the swing of two perfectly unidentifiable bags. As I stated in my ins, we’re going back to our pre-grab bag days. Sorry, Margaux!

Below— OMG, remember the chokehold the Givenchy fold-over boots had on the community? To see just a hint of them or perhaps an updated tribute is bliss! Don’t purge your way out of a fabulous TBT moment. Her denim midi is all-femme but not pick-me (whatever that means!), and I love the coordination of the tans/taupes/blondes all the way down to her braids. This woman is a fashion princess, I can just tell. Game recognize game!

I never allowed the influx of outrageous blogger looks, onslaught of phones and over-democratization of the front row turn me from my love of fashion week. Because when you’re stomping from show to show, running into industry friends and then sitting for 7 minutes of the highly produced, and expertly executed culmination of another person’s creative dreams, how could one possible scoff at that?

I’ll say it as many times as necessary— Long Live Fashion Week. Xx