NY Fashion Week begins

Designer Brian Reyes will show his fall collection on Thursday in Bryant Park. He found inspiration in the natural colors found in marble. "I was looking at different ways of transforming hard materials," he said.

Fashion Week is underway in New York City this week, and the Fall 2009 fashion preview in Bryant Park has a decidedly different feel.

It's a very serious time, especially for this industry," designer Brian Reyes said recently. "I see (the economic depression) as one of possibility in a way, a very tense way. It helps you be a little more creative.

"When things are easier, you take things for granted sometimes. An economy like this forces you to buckle down and be very smart about what you do," he said.

That sentiment is playing out all over fashion week. Many designers, including Betsey Johnson and Reem Acra, have switched from runway to showroom presentations.