At Cynthia Rowley's show on Sept. 11 at a loft in Chelsea, three little girls ran around the runway, tugging at their parents' arms and climbing on and off the chairs in the front row.

There was 4-year-old Maren Frey, the platinum blond, adorable little daughter of Bright Shiny Morning author James Frey and wife, Maya. Tiny Maren was outfitted in a white dress, silver sandals, and a string of pearls for her Fashion Week debut. Gigi Clementine, a 3-year-old dressed in a tiny floral number, was the daughter of Ms. Rowley and husband, author Bill Powers (wearing silver sneakers), who was seated next to the Freys.  read more »

Strand bookstore owner, Fred Bass, is "baffled and amazed" and Cynthia Rowley is "upset" that the city's promotional agency, NYC and Co., shot the designer in the bookstore for the city's "Just Ask the Locals" campaign, but advertised it as Midtown's Kinokuniya Books instead. [P6]  read more »

A cluster of British fashion students huddled before the 3 p.m. Reem Acra show at the Bryant Park Promenade on Thursday, Feb. 7, holding fashion trade magazines and strategizing about how to sneak inside. They fanned out, walking with purpose.

"It's a chance to see designers," one told the Daily Transom, before seeing a group with latch-on potential walking by, apologizing and walking after them.

Hamming it up inside for the pre-show flashbulb onslaught were the actresses Sophia Bush and Aisha Tyler, the latter in a cocktail dress, and news anchor Rita Cosby.  read more »

When it comes to a refreshing dip, Cynthia Rowley, the fashion designer and lady-about-town, thinks it’s better served cold and late than not at all. Speaking to us last night, she admitted that she can’t wait to use the new private pool that’s just been installed in her West Village back yard.

“And I know what you’re thinking!” she shouted with a laugh to the Daily Transom last night at the RxArt Ball, where also donated a work of her own creation for the silent auction, a watercolor entitled Rorschach Beetle. She went on: “You’re thinking, But it’s winter!”—yup, that’s exactly what we were thinking—“and that was kind of the unfortunate part of it, but at least it’s in.”

It may be installed in the back of her posh digs in the leafy West Village, but it’s not quite ready for Ms. Rowley’s strokes, no matter how creative or fashionable. “It’s heated, but probably not all winter. Things always take longer than you think they will, so we’ll be in it next week, no matter what the temperature is!”

“I was here a couple of days ago and they were all back there working like little elves,” former Observer columnist Candace Bushnell told the Transom on the runway at the Cynthia Rowley show at Gotham Hall. Seated nearby were All My Children’s Levin Rambin and eco-socialite Arden Wohl in an un-cinched flowing red dress and black flower headband--of course!

The crowd chomped away on Rowley-provided popcorn and water as the lights dimmed. Models sporting Hamptons-style flowing white and beige wide-leg tapered pants prowled down the runway against techno beats. The palette seemed very much inspired by the designer’s children’s toy room: pastel blue, pink and purple. After the final catwalk, models straddled vintage bikes and rode off the runway—this week’s Observer cover story come to life!

But The Transom was willing to abandon some of these precepts when Cynthia Rowley and Ilene Rosenzweig gave convincing evidence otherwise at their Swell Welcome Wagon bash last week. The partners-in-style broke every rule on the books while promoting their own new hardcover and welcoming Katie O'Connell, NBC's new head of east coast development--who, according to Swell's PR representative, has recently optioned a sitcom from the duo's company. Somehow, the duo ended up with a soiree that was enjoyable, even despite its echoes of collegiate Greek life. Granted, the scene was jarring at first. Ms. Rowley, reine-de-runway turned Targé trendsetter (not to mention new mother to Gigi), greeted her guests outside of a gigantic red double-decker New York sightseeing bus on East 24th Street. Along with her white rimmed sunglasses, she was wearing navy satin shorts, which she paired with a brown belt. And a black camisole.

After the uprooting of one social maxim, The Transom faced the difficult task of somehow abandoning the strong, strong misgivings that have accompanied the phrase ‘party bus' ever since... well, a bad experience. The bus was swarming with cute waiters dressed in quintessentially touristy I-Heart-NY t-shirts. They carried trays of fries procured from the nearby Madison Square Park Shake Shack—and to wash down the Shack's snacks, there were sip-cups filled with a somewhat mysterious beverage that one partygoer referred to as "adult lemonade."

"It's not exactly Keanu Reeves in Speed, but you know," the genial brunette said.

"It's a double-decker lap dance!" Ms. Rowley exclaimed, proving her hostess prowess by being able to roll with the punches.

Judging from what transpired next, you can take the party out of the Beerington, but you can't take the Beer(ington) out of the party. According to Kim Yorio, who handles public relations for Swell, guests (who, by this point, numbered about 90, including Tatum O'Neal), hopped off the bus at one of its snack stops and purchased forties at a nearby bodega.

They were probably also not pleased with what seemed to a casual observer to be a blatant violation of open container laws.

Finally, after numerous and increasingly angry loudspeaker requests that all passengers be seated, the driver stopped the bus and refused to move it from its makeshift parking spot in front of Stanton Social. Though Ms. Yorio pleaded with the Sightseeing Gestapo to at least take the partygoers to their last stop, they would not budge; in fact, they alerted Ms. Yorio that they had notified not only their dispatcher but also the NYPD of the tomfoolery that was taking place on board.

"I was worried about them driving the bus into the river--at that point it was every man for himself," she said.