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"  In some ways the most exciting moments at the spring/ summer fashion shows were spent speculating when Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen&amp;#039;s supergay Austrian fashion journalist character, would turn up to shoot footage for his new cinematic spoof on the fashion industry. He passed on the shows in New York City (security too tight, perhaps?) but took a few unwitting designers and their staffs by surprise in Milan when he walked onto the runway at the Agatha Ruiz de la Prada show bundled in a jumble of coats. A couple of days later, everyone behind the scenes was buzzing that he&amp;#039;d crashed backstage at Iceberg to steal clothes off a model&amp;#039;s rack, then had himself rolled up in the plastic runway covering as the bodyguards tried to remove it. Given the often lackluster and endlessly merchy shows one has to sit through season after season (and, as a result, often skips), it was painful to bear the thought of having missed anything out of the ordinary (it&amp;#039;s what fuels the burning desire to keep at it in fashion), especially in Milan.  But, in fact, the shows this season proved extraordinarily upbeat and optimistic even as the stock market was crashing and every drama queen was panicking like Chicken Little and rushing to use the failure of banks, brokerages, and lending institutions as an excuse for everything that had gone, and will go, wrong\u2014like the service in four-star hotels. Retailers stateside, however, were legitimately scrambling to come up with a formula to keep women shopping in 2009 after a bleak autumn. Despite the luxury market continuing to grow by leaps and bounds in China and India, it was hard to reconcile people losing their homes over here while $1,000 shoes are still flying off the shelves over there. But designers quite rightly want to keep their bread buttered on this side of the Pacific as well, so maybe that&amp;#039;s why there were so many colorful and provocative designs that proved irresistible, like the origami folds at Calvin Klein, S&amp;amp;amp;M banding at Narciso Rodriguez and Thakoon, and a mind-boggling exploration of turn-of-the-century (the twentieth) chic at Marc Jacobs. Silhouettes still favor a strong shoulder and pleated high waists on full-legged or skinny pants, and roll-hemmed shorts that, along with jumpsuits and apron dresses, are de rigueur. Thankfully, there were not so many carbon copy trends. Designers know that the era of me-too status dressing will never cut it in a downsizing economy. And not surprisingly, the most original decade in fashion history, the &amp;#039;80s, coincided with the black market fallout of the greed decade. Ideas that worked then felt appropriately fresh now. There seemed to be a Giorgio Armani revival at many houses, with harem pants, peplum jackets, turbaned heads, and beading and lam\u00E9, such as the evening jumpers at Proenza Schouler. Graffiti, nuclear orange, nautical stripes, and post-punk influences like cutaway jackets, underwear as outerwear, crinkle fabrics, and Africa-inspired prints were also popular, as were all the metallic and futuristic shine seen everywhere from Balenciaga to Chanel in Paris, though Alber Elbaz trended a little more &amp;#039;70s with his homage to his former employer, Yves Saint Laurent, who passed away last summer. At Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs paid respects to the conundrum that is French chic by making often garish showgirl ideas sublime, even going so far as to pair a camel wide-lapel belted jacket with a short feathered miniskirt. Ooh la la, indeed.  Bruno continued his antics once he arrived in Paris and helped lighten the mood while the financial news worsened. He was spotted fighting with the doormen outside Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci&amp;#039;s A Magazine party at R\u00E9gine&amp;#039;s and was rumored to have been kicked out of more than a few shows at the Tuileries and L&amp;#039;\u00C9cole des Beaux-Arts. But it wasn&amp;#039;t until he turned up at Stella McCartney that he caught the attention of the American press. Seated in the second row behind a British magazine editor known for being extraordinarily pushy (literally), Bruno spent most of the show trying to shove her aside so he could see the shoes while talking loudly on the phone and examining the contents of his man-bag, and he also committed the unpardonable sin of passing judgment on the show during the finale by giving it a not-so-subtle so-so pass with his hands. Fortunately, McCartney is known for her sense of humor. And it was hard to keep one&amp;#039;s eyes on the gorgeous clothes with such comic relief occurring behind the backs of people who missed the joke. But it seemed like the perfect remedy for the jittery mood that had taken hold.  McCartney&amp;#039;s willingness to jest at a time when she herself showed her best collection to date reinforced the idea that confidence and success both stem from not taking oneself too seriously. Sexy and practical, the clothes represented a woman who exuded a calm reassurance. For one instant, it seemed that all would be well if everyone just followed her lead. Act smart. Look sharp. Don&amp;#039;t suffer fools. Except Bruno, of course. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/fashion/a9567/runway-report-283517/>