Fashion Underground: Accessory Designers Get On Board

Fashion Underground Accessory Designers Get On Board
The fashion pack gathered in Grand Central Station's Vanderbilt hall for the opening of "Fashion Underground," an exhibition of original, subway-inspired accessories co-sponsored by the CFDA and the MTA. Honoring the New York City subway system's centennial this year, "Fashion Underground" features the work of nine renowned accessory designers, all of whose work will eventually be auctioned off to benefit the beleaguered transit system.

"As far as I'm concerned, this marriage makes perfect sense," noted CFDA President Stan Herman. "You think of New York, you think of the subway; it's an essential part of the New York experience. So it's a natural source of inspiration for designers. And I think if you look at the pieces the designers have created, you see that - they've taken ideas from the mosaics in the stations, from the old tokens; but they've also been thinking about, you know, how people use the subway," Herman continues, pointing to a pair of boots by Kenneth Cole with a clear plastic MetroCard pocket. "Every New York woman needs a place to put her MetroCard - and so, here's another option."

Herman goes on to note that for him, in particular, transit and fashion have long gone hand in hand.

"I've designed uniforms for MetroNorth," he says, gesturing toward the station's main foray, where harried commuters