Playing the Fame Game - NYTimes.com NEW YORK - Lady Gaga sent out invitations at the close of the New York shows on Thursday for the introduction of her first fragrance, "Fame." The red-meat-wearing star with her "Little Monster" fans could not have chosen a better title. For fame is the name of the game on the runways, in the front rows and among the outrageously dressed wannabes, toddling on their towering platform shoes outside the show venues. The last days of the long, drawn-out fashion week included Katie Holmes (in photo, right), famous for her split from Tom Cruise, showing 14 mildly glamorous sportswear looks, along with her fashion partner, Jeanne Yang. "It's sexy and innocent at the same time - for intelligent and strong women of all ages," Ms. Holmes said of the quilted jacket, dainty dresses scattered with discreet patterns, bra tops, tailored shorts and a split-front olive chiffon skirt. Holmes & Yang , the designer said, would appeal to anyone from a "young prom woman to a 65-year-old grandmother." Unlike her fellow celebrity designer, Victoria Beckham, who brought her daughter, Harper, along as fashionable accessory, Ms. Holmes had left her daughter, Suri, at home. Rachel Zoe "s career took flight as stylist to the stars. But her own particular style - 1970s hippie de luxe, from floppy hat to platform shoes under maxi skirts - caught a fashion vibe. Since the 1960 to 1970s look is a mild trend in New York fashion, the inspiration of Jane Birkin and Talitha Getty in their haute Boho period looked on target, especially the white pantsuits that opened the show and streamlined jumpsuits that looked like easy West Coast sportswear. Ms. Zoe was accompanied backstage by her baby son, Skylar. The Proenza Schouler duo rose to fame a decade ago as boy wonders with sophisticated tastes. Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez have stayed the course through hard work, which has brought them two different sets of backers and, this week, their first store opening uptown on Madison Avenue. Why the duo showed their densely decorated, digital-age collection in a grungy, condemned building way downtown in the financial district is as much of a mystery as how they piece together their wondrous concoctions. Collages of different leather and animal skins, worked deftly together, had an echo of hippie handwork from Berkeley circa 1971, but given an elegant polish. If the silhouettes, with placard fronts and flaring skirts, recalled Balenciaga, they are not the only designers to be on that track. And they are original in the confidence of placing pieces of their fabric puzzles at an angle on streamlined dresses. Above all, the Proenza Schouler duo seem wired into the 21st century. Narrative, computerized photo prints are a general trend. Yet the way the designers used photographs of crowded summer swimming pools, sliced the imagery and laid it on the bias on slim dresses was original and intriguing. At Marchesa , the Hollywood connection is both with the glitz of red-carpet clothes and the fact that the co-designer, Georgina Chapman, is the wife of the movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. But Ms. Chapman and her partner, Keren Craig, decided to fill Grand Central Station with the scent of Mumbai. The duo were thinking Bollywood rather than Hollywood for an Indian-inspired collection that also had a link to the Beatles maharishi era of the late 1960s. The result was embellishment to the max, from pearls seeding the neckline of a dress wavering with white silk fringing to a rich, burgundy dress with ornate decoration. Flat sandals and more simple tunics with pants or lightly draped dresses made this collection in some ways less fancy than Marchesa's previous bouffant-skirted red-carpet offerings. There was only one strapless bustier in sight. But will Kanye West, front row with Kim Kardashian, allow his partner to wear anything so elaborate now that he has regulated her wardrobe? The front-row presence of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones at the Michael Kors show practically guaranteed that the designer would be trending on Twitter. And Mr. Kors is famously successful, his juiced-up American sportswear now selling in stores around the globe. "The best of New York polish and the best of West Coast architecture," Mr. Kors said backstage about his summer 2013 collection. That meant a dash of 1960s graphics in the blocks of basic colors - red, blue, green, yellow - and in the lean, minimalist silhouettes. Although a skirt dress might flair out into pleats, everything seemed to be drawn on straight lines, making some of the coats seem more momsy than dynamic. Mr. Kors also is timid in his embrace of digital printing. A puffy cloud pattern looked like an afterthought. But in this carefully categorized show, evening looks - black dresses, with cut-away straps at the back - were a fine geometry lesson. Is Reed Krakoff to be renowned for bringing the Helmut Lang look back to life? An echo of that designer's work in the 1990s seemed to resonate in Mr. Krakoff's sportswear, as if from the boudoir - light lingerie layers, visible brassieres, slithery satin boxer shorts and wafting feathers as decorative images. The Krakoff style is minimalist and he has a vision and conviction of his own. As a taut pantsuit with a sheer blouse revealing a bra, the look was streamlined and had a modern elegance. But there was something more perverse than enticing about the nude colors, blushing to darker shades, and the sense of willful bodily exposure. Anna Sui is a fashion force of nature. Her ability to refresh her ideas each season, using mashups of cultural references, different fabrics and onstage attitudes, is a skill that identifies her brand instantly. The opening brocade jumpsuit, cropped at calf length; the melds of fishnet, printed mesh and lace; and indigo denim with blue beaded chambray had all the charm of a thrift shop, bringing together history and the present. To all New York designers whose inconsistency is a baleful trademark, Ms. Sui offers a lesson in joyful continuity. There might seem to be little mileage left in the man/woman thing. But in her Philosophy line, the Italian designer Alberta Ferretti proved that there is still some fashion life in turning the masculine into femininity. The show was played out in shirt and necktie stripes (stripes being a powerful trend of the New York season). By creating shapely feminine curves out of the stripes and presenting the clothes in the wood-paneled surroundings and gentleman's club atmosphere of the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel, the Philosophy collection hit target.