I thought Fashion Week was over. Then Lindsay Lohan, a pit bull and a row of nepo babies proved me wrong.

Elon Musk’s daughter screamed in my face halfway through New York Fashion Week. I was crammed on a red velvet stool at the plush Evelyn Hotel when it happened, smack in the middle of the Dauphinette show, when Vivian Wilson, the estranged and beautiful daughter of one of the Earth’s Richest Dude Bro, entered the runway shrieking. Nearly falling off my perch getting bloodcurdled by a model wasn’t on my bingo card, especially since Dauphinette is usually known for its super-sweet party frocks and daisy-plated tops.

But it looked cool on Instagram and scared the crap out of the audience, and listen, this is art, dammit. Just go with it.

Some say New York Fashion Week could really use this kind of wake-up call. In recent years, the event has been deemed “dead” or “over” or, in the immortal parlance of Kristin Cavallari, “dunzo.” I suspect calling New York Fashion Week “done” is the style version of calling Saturday Night Live “unfunny.” It’s easy to dismiss something that makes you feel uncool or even just unconsidered.

That said, New York Fashion Week — and fashion itself — is often part of the solution to sadness, exclusion or boredom. It generates over 100 million Instagram and TikTok views. It is also a cash cow, albeit one that’s used for luxe napa leather. The weeklong string of runways, parties and panels also brings nearly $1 billion to New York’s economy every season. It dictates which looks Shein and Temu are gonna try and knock off before Christmas. And it’s the only place where we get to see Olivia Wilde and Oprah jammed onto one teeny bench in sharp Michael Kors suits that will likely be at TJ Maxx in six months. Surely that’s worth a good primal scream.

I took on the shows and sights to bring you more celebrity-tinged moments that are worth a good shout, including Lindsay Lohan’s latest transformation, Elle Fanning’s unlikely celeb savior and a reminder that fashion is still fun.

A million little Alix Earles

In the 1760s, France’s most eligible chaude femmes (hot girls) began piling their hair into pompadours to look like their patron babe, Marie Antoinette. Today, it seems the fashion world is doing the same thing — for Alix Earle. TikTok’s most eligible blonde and new Dancing With the Stars favorite was seemingly everywhere this season, even if she didn’t appear at a single fashion show.

That’s because at runways like Area, long-legged models with high school soccer star faces and swishy hair dominated the casting board. Some, like teens Summer Dirx and Grace Van Petten, hail from the East Coast just like Earle; others come from Ukraine, the U.K. and South Korea. But on the catwalk, they represented a million little Alixes, in all their American college-girl glory.

Charles Melton should be a bodyguard

You want Charles Melton working security if he ever decides to quit the whole Hollywood hot-guy thing.

Mr. Melton was thrown into “stop the mob” mode at Coach, where paparazzi — and every fashion editor under 30 — swarmed Elle Fanning like she could grant them seven minutes in a closet with the Chalamet sibling of their choice. Even though she was wearing kitten heels, Fanning was briefly knocked backward by the crush of selfie-seekers. Melton managed to grab onto the sleeve of her denim trench coat and whisk her away from the TikTok-or-die horde, just in time for the actress to sink gracefully into her seat.

She laughed, everyone else laughed, it was totally fine. But if it comes out that the Riverdale dude was secretly CIA this whole time, we told you so.

Dylan O’Brien should babysit your dog

As a diehard Ginny & Georgia fan, I thought nothing would thrill me more than watching Brianne Howey walk in a fashion show this season. I was wrong. At Rachel Antonoff and Susan Alexandra’s joint fashion bash in Brooklyn, celebrities were paired with rescue dogs on the runway in the hopes of finding these furballs forever homes.

Howey gamely walked a tiny puppy next to Emmy royalty Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Edie Falco (The Sopranos and/or Nurse Jackie). They had style. They had flair. But there was Dylan O’Brien, movie star and Taylor Swift pal, calmly leading a pit bull across the stage. And sorry, all bets were off.

Old Navy is going to be your new fashion hub

In closed-door sessions with fashion editors, designer Zac Posen confirmed that Old Navy will sell a special capsule collection by the American designer Anna Sui, who is popular for her silk slip dresses and plaid miniskirts that have been seen on Cher in Clueless circa 1995 … and Olivia Rodrigo circa last month.

Sui did a Target collab in 2009, but this won’t be a fast-fashion version of her runway designs — it’ll be original pieces created with the San Francisco-based label at a way lower price point.

Lindsay Lohan’s got a new guy

After conquering the red carpet with stylist Andrew Mukamal for this summer’s Freakier Friday press tour, Lohan has a new dude in her life — designer and fashion consultant Logan Horne — ensuring the actress is walking the fine line between “expensive and untouchable” and “still best friend material.”

She began with a silky floral slip dress and white faux fur jacket at L’Agence — approachable, pretty, fun — followed by a head-to-toe Fendi look from Moda Operandi that merged all-black sex appeal with a candy apple red handbag.

“She’s been a Fendi girl since the beginning of her career,” Horne told me at the party. “And once Lindsay loves you, she is loyal.” Horne would know — he also styled the actress during her wild child days. “But we’re all adults now!” he insisted. And they look it.

Bra straps go designer

A New York Times reader recently asked fashion critic Vanessa Friedman, “Why are everyone’s bra straps showing these days?” (Mom, was that you?) Friedman pointed to the way athleisure has made leggings and sports bras a staple, the fact that “bras are a reality of women’s lives. … Forcing the world to confront that fact, as well as the sexuality it implies, can be a political act.” (Also: Y2K trends are raging on TikTok right now, and early-aughts queen Carrie Bradshaw was a bra-strap flasher.)

Tory Burch harnessed both Sex and the City and sexual freedom with a camel-colored knit top that featured stark white straps on model and paparazzi favorite Emily Ratajkowski, turning accidental bra flashes into a real style statement. Let’s see if front-row guests like Jessica Alba and Tessa Thompson give it a try IRL.

A nepo baby front row!

Someone at Michael Kors has a brilliant sense of humor — every nepo baby sat in the same section of the runway.

From left to right, that’s Isan Elba (daughter of Idris Elba), Olivia Jade Giannulli (daughter of Lori Loughlin), Ava Phillipe (daughter of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillipe), Audrey McGraw (daughter of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill), and Leni Olumi Klum, the daughter of Heidi Klum. Truthfully, these young women are all beautiful and interesting in their own right. But it’s still a good giggle to shove them all in a row like very lucky ducks.

Is Uniqlo headed to Cannes?

Yes, that was Cate Blanchett chatting with Roger Federer just outside the Museum of Modern Art. Are they … planning a tennis movie? Not exactly. The movie star and the tennis mogul are Uniqlo’s current “global ambassadors,” which means they’ll appear in ads and videos for the brand. Knowing Uniqlo’s current creative director, Clare Waight Keller — aka the woman who made Meghan Markle’s wedding dress — they’ll likely weigh in on some design aspects too. Does this mean Blanchett’s legendary Cannes appearances will come with a couture gown and a $25 half-moon bag? I mean … not no.

New York Fashion Week has a new prom queen

Her name is Rachel Scott, and she’s a Jamaican-born designer who’s been running her own line, Diotima, since 2021 and winning awards from the Council of American Fashion Designers (CFDA) with her hand-crocheted evening gowns and delicately embroidered denim.

This season, the 41-year-old took over the beloved celebrity cool-girl label Proenza Schouler. The melting flower-print dresses were great and likely destined for a red carpet near you.

You don’t actually need to buy anything

Now for the hot take: New York Fashion Week is one big tutorial on how to re-wear the stuff you already own in better, cooler ways. The giant white button-down shirts at Ralph Lauren? You have them — or a guy in your life does. Steal one, pair it with skinny jeans, cinch it with a black belt at the waist, and congratulations, you’re basically Kendall Jenner.

Ditto the short-sleeve sweatshirt at Ulla Johnson, which she paired with a sequin pencil skirt instead of ripped jeans. And the beige sweater worn like a scarf over the beige trench coat at the Row? Your knitwear probably isn’t $1,000 (thank goodness?), but it’s still a cool way to add texture and a little bit of blanket-y comfort to an everyday look.

Open up your closet — you’ve probably got the same stuff shoved way in the back.