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A Nemo blog. Dealing with uncommon cents.

For New York Fashion Week, at least half of the 200 labels that are showing have been around less than 10 years, with a quarter being less than five years old.

Though, the seemingly endless wave of fresh and brilliant new fashion talent may be slowing down. The economic downturn has many stores cutting fall orders by an average of 20% and smaller designers without financial backing are bracing for a turbulent year.

The New York Times reports that the fallout could be even more severe after Fashion Week has wrapped. Once the fall orders have been placed, it will be clear who survives (and who does not). The more stores that close, the more labels will fold.

In these trying times, designers are feeling the burden of small stores and boutiques who are taking twice or even three times as long to pay for their orders. Even worse, some stores that have gone out of business are leaving behind clothes that were ordered and produced, but never paid for.

To cut corners this year, designers are upping cost-cutting measures that include bypassing runway shows for more intimate showroom gatherings, using fabrics stockpiled from previous seasons and sharing pattern makers. The cuts and closures are mounting with no end in sight….

Today, Obama’s election is taking the center stage and New York’s biggest political star Hillary Clinton is following him to Washington, D.C. At the same time, Wall Street institutions are at the mercy of the capital’s politicians, whose bailouts they’ve come to rely on. And, the city’s key industries (including tourism, finance and real estate) are down. New York just doesn’t seem to be getting much love these days.

Long-time New Yorkers are noticing empty Midtown streets on weekday mornings that, until recently, were full of bustling workers. And, nine Broadways shows closed down on a single day this January.

In the same time that New York’s unemployment rate went up, other U.S. cities including Seattle, Washington and Dallas actually reported gains in jobs.

Has New York lost its edge? The NY Times think that it’s cyclical, though it might take awhile this time around to bounce back. As one interviewee noted, the city that never sleeps may finally need a nap.

Image via The New York Times

Banksy, the famously mysterious British artist (who has yet to publicly put a face to his work) has been whipping up some fantastical creations in New York City as of late.

Billed as his first official exhibition in New York, a storefront with signage reading “The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill” has popped up in Greenwich Village. Now, here’s where it gets really weird: passersby stop dead in their tracks when they notice actual bales of hay lining the city sidewalk and see a mechanical leopard swinging his tail in the shop window.

Upon entering, there are sausages and hotdogs moving along in sand-filled tanks, fishsticks swimming through water-filled aquariums and chicken nuggets singing nearby.

Not to be outdone by these oddities, a massive rabbit wearing a pearl necklace (above) is filing her nails and a frighteningly lifelike monkey is wearing headphones and watching its fellow primates on a television.

What does all of this mean? “I wanted to make art that questioned our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming,” relayed Banksy. This ‘exhibit’ should definitely get you thinking…and if not, it’s worth the stop for the mind-altering trip alone.