Live From New York, It's Fashion Week Street Style!

As fashion week kicked off Thursday in New York City, one question seemed to be on every showgoer's mind: What's really the point? With everything readily accessible via social media and fast-fashion retailers drastically speeding up the production cycle for the industry, fashion week — erm, month — is going through an identity crisis. And in New York, where more designers have fallen off the official calendar than ever — moving their shows to other cities, opting for new and different formats, or just sitting it out all together — the focus is increasingly on what's happening outside the venues. Because while many contemplate whether or not fashion week is "dead," street style is very, very much alive.

Despite the cold and wind chill and overall not-fun-to-be-outside-in weather, New York Fashion Week is still causing a spectacle on the sidewalks. Here, attendees aim to please — and their looks deserve just as much attention as (if not more than) the ones on the runway. So as the industry whispers about the lackluster feeling fashion week seems to carry these days, we're looking to the streets to be reminded of why we fell in love with it all in the first place.