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Fug Girls: Mama Kors Works the Crowd

In an economic time where everyone is depressed, freaked, or yearns simply to hibernate for two years and wake up flush again (or all three simultaneously), it was refreshing to hear 30 Rock’s Jane Krakowski say she plans to cope by NOT weeping over her piggy bank. Krakowski, looking chipper in bright pink at the Michael Kors show Wednesday morning, smiled and said her personal stimulus plan is to keep shopping. “Gotta keep the American economy going, right?” she told a camera crew, citing the fact that Fashion Week rolled on as planned as a great example. “It’s important to keep fashion alive, keep on going, keep buying.” We like that idea. Hopefully our credit-card companies will agree and understand that we’re really just buying shoes as a selfless act of patriotism.

Krakowski took a seat next to Joy Bryant and Molly Sims. “They seem to have seated me in celebrity row,” mused a nearby editor who we believe was Marie Claire’s Joanna Coles. “That’s very exciting. Surely it’s a mistake.” Given Bryant’s long week — she has been about as omnipresent as the Voguettes — it may not have been the thrillfest one would assume. “We’re in the home stretch,” Bryant told a reporter with a grin and a touch of weariness. It’s understandable, as we never see Bryant anywhere — onscreen or at the Coffee Bean — as much as we do at Fashion Week. However, she pulls it off. She does not half-ass it.

Heidi Klum timed her emergence from backstage to be a few minutes after a stressed-sounding announcer came on the PA system to beg us to sit down immediately. Unfortunately, this meant we couldn’t really see what she was wearing, so we busied ourselves watching Michael Kors’s mother, Joan, instead. Mama Kors worked the room like the veteran she is, posing for a photo with Fern Mallis, gabbing with Krakowski, and making a point to squeeze Simon Doonan’s hand. We can see why Michael loves having her around — aside from, you know, being his MOM, she also charmed the crowd and took scrupulous notes during the entire presentation. Hopefully he’s not getting grounded for any of it; if anything, he should get a raise in his allowance for convincing us — two L.A. girls — that we will never be truly happy without a fluorescent-orange fur coat and resplendent matching hat.

Actress Nia Long — sitting down on the other end of the runway from the celeb cabal — pretty much got lost in the shuffle, low-key as she was in cropped, rolled-up jeans, a black newsboy cap, and a heavy scarf. We only even noticed her by accident because, while trying to surf the crowd to our seat, we stumbled into an interview she was giving about staying healthy during Fashion Week’s chaos: “Lots of B-12, lots of sleep, and just breathe and remember to go easy. And chew gum. I’m starving right now,” she sighed. “I’ve been here since Thursday, but it feels like it’s been a month.”

Then, the human tide carried us away at a very inopportune time — we heard the exiting journalist congratulate her on something. “Thanks,” Nia smiled. “You’re the first one I’ve told, actually.” Damn, incomplete dish. What could it be? A new role? Tabloid-friendly baby joy? A tryout for the U.S. Olympic luge team? Great — how can we get lots of sleep the rest of the week with looming mysteries like that?

Watch a slideshow of the Michael Kors collection.
See backstage photos of Heidi Klum, Chanel Iman and more at Michael Kors.
See close-up details from the Michael Kors collection.
Watch video of the Michael Kors show.

Fug Girls: Mama Kors Works the Crowd