Top 5 creative presentations for NYFW Fall 2011

Well ladies and gentlemen another fashion week has come and gone and I have the cold to prove it. While I didn't go to as many shows and presentations as I did last season (partially because I was working on producing Rebecca Turbow's show, post on that forthcoming), I wanted to touch upon a positive trend that is emerging in fashion presentations this season, and I hope will continue. While it's true that a fashion show or presentation is really about the clothes and making sales, with so many happening at the same time, it's increasingly hard to make your show memorable.

So in that regard, some designers are putting a bit of performance into their shows. I wanted to highlight the innovation of the following five presentations that took place this past week:

5) Band of Outsiders -- While this was more or less a traditional runway show, this was the first runway for Scott Sternberg and his brand and he wanted to make it memorable. The first few models repelled from the ceiling and descended onto the runway, superhero style.

4) Erickson Beamon -- Jewelry is always a difficult product to market via a traditional fashion show, and frankly I'm a little skeptical that it's the best medium in which to do so. However, I have to give it to Erickson Beamon for this ballerina inspired presentation. Dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy wearing the jewelry (some where the jewelry was meant to be worn, others with it worn over their faces like masks) were perched all over a scaffolding and doing ballet poses while a tenor from the Metropolitan Opera performed with a violinist. It was a little awkward as everyone was talking during the presentation but it was still something special.

3) Elise Overland -- Taking advantage of the temporary ice skating rink at the Standard Hotel, Elise Overland had her models perched on the ice while professional skaters, also wearing the collection, skated in circles around them. The presentation culminated in a performance by Johnny Weir who emerged from an igloo. I did feel rather sorry for the poor models, though... they looked so cold, one of them looked like she wanted to cry. Not exactly a lot of fat insulation to keep them warm, either.

2) Rachel Antonoff -- Taking things up a notch from her last season's "sleepover" themed presentation, Rachel Antonoff continued the theme of childhood nostalgia with her Fall 2011 presentation entitled "The Dance." The invites were designed to look like prom invitations, inviting you to a dance at La Guardia High School. The auditorium was decked out in streamers and balloons and models danced to songs by The Like. While this was ultimately one of the most creative presentations of the week, we do learn one lesson: models can't really dance.

1) Moncler -- Finally, the number one most creative presentation this week was this flash-mob style presentation by Moncler Grenoble. The presentation, which took place in Grand Central Station, included 150 dancers and 300 extras. Granted, this is a skiwear company and people have the kind of mobility that you need to participate in such a presentation. But... this will definitely be talked about for years to come and has set the bar for everyone else.