While DC has long been considered a fashion backwater by the standards of New York’s 7th Avenue crowd, this year D.C. style setters turned New York’s vaunted Fashion Week on its head, connecting with the Fall 2010 Collections and showing a level of fashion forward consciousness that would keep even Anna Wintour listening.

By Allison Priebe Brooks

Diane von Furstenberg. (Photo by Allison Priebe Brooks)

 The glittery tents of Bryant Park have been the official home of  New York City Fashion Week since 1993.  This September, Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center will become Fashion Week headquarters.  Perhaps having grown weary of the frenzy around the tents and the space Fashion Week took up, the Bryant Park Corporation decided to stop hosting the lavish display after this February’s show.

Once the move is made, the massive white tents will move up 7th Avenue to host the fashion shows on the Upper West Side, commencing this September with the Spring 2011 Collections.

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Napoléon Bistro

Photos by Tony Powell

Omar Popal

THE EVENT: Omar Popal is smart, handsome, charming, a bit mischevious in good hearted way, and oh-so-discreet – just a few of the reasons why 300 of his best pals jammed Napoléon Bistro, his family’s Adams-Morgan eatery, to drink, dine, and dance in honor of the actor/model/restaurateur’s 30th. THE SCENE: The birthday boy watched good-naturedly as a lifetime’s worth of often embarrassing but always wittily encaptioned photos were put together and projected by big brother Mustafa Popal and sister Fatima Popal. Later, clan elders surrendered the premises to late-arriving scenesters who partied until closing in the lower level lounge/discothèque. THE GUESTS: Paul Wharton, Karim Chrobog, Routiza and Bita Vahhabaghai, Carolina Furukrona, Douglas Eldridge, Erwin Gomez, and Will Thomas.