Fashion Week, Day Four: Ralph, the King

I can never jump straight into Fashion Week without a bit of mood-enhancing reading. Usually that means cramming my head with every word that's been written about current trends and designers. But this season I decided to go the dishier route and read the juicy unauthorized biography of Vogue editor Anna Wintour called Front Row, by Jerry Oppenheimer.

I also picked up the unauthorized bio of Ralph Lauren called Genuine Authentic but I didn't zip through it before the week started (probably because it wasn't as wicked as the Anna Wintour book). But this being Ralph Lauren's big week, celebrating 40 years in business, I at least tried.

On Saturday, "The King of New York" as Style.com proclaimed him, sent out a staggering 72 looks onto the runway. The black-tie event attracted celebs like Sarah Jessica Parker and fellow designers like Donna Karan. The show was inspired by "A Day at the Races," which was evident in the racing silks, pretty dresses and oversized hats. That's the great thing about Ralph Lauren: while other designers cloud their artistic vision with murky themes, Ralph has always served his vision of uppercrust Americana straight up. (Photo Credit: Mark Mainz/Getty Images)