If Obama is a president for the people, why the hell is White House social secretary Desiree Rogers at Fashion Week today, nestled between Vogue editor Anna Wintour and her fashion editor Virginia Smith?

[Stylist Rachel Zoe at Fashion Week; image via Splash]

Spitzer hooker Ashley Dupre showed up in the front row at Fashion Week last Friday. Sweet, right? No, it got the nice PR lady fired! But she's still good friends with Ashley, so suck it:

The attendees, or at least the one's willing to be photographed, at Fashion Week right now are relatively non-A-List. Just look at the people snapped over the weekend. Doesn't anyone famous care about fashion anymore?

A recap of the shows, parties, and gossip you've missed at Fashion Week thus far after the jump.

Click through for more pics of some of the famous faces in the front row at Fashion Week over the weekend.

Fashion Week is going strong at Bryant Park. Do you wish you were there? No, me neither. But here are some pictures, in case you're curious. Lots of skinny blonde girls, plus Michelle Obama's designer!

• Unsurprisingly, Jason Wu's show was a big hit today, and Anna herself made an appearance. [WSJ, NYM, WWD]
• Reports from Charlotte Ronson's show. [WWD, WWD, NYM, Racked]
• Reports from Yigal Azrouël's show. [WWD, NYM, Fashionologie]
• Fashion Week's official coffee, brought to you by McDonald's, is "actually not that bad." [Racked]
• Photos from Rachel Roy's fall collection. [Pipeline]
• Topshop has been delayed again; it's now scheduled for April. [WWD]
• Ally Hilfiger is planning to launch her own line. [NYO]
• Christian Siriano is covering Fashion Week for Time. [Time]
• Shoshanna will appear in the Judith Ripka's new ad campaign. [FWD]
• Diesel's Fifth Ave flagship opens next week. [FWD, Racked]

Oh hey our friend just some girl, we barely know her, R&B singer and hooker to the stars Ashley Dupre, showed up at Fashion Week today, right there 'in the tents,' as they say!

And you were worried that Fashion Week would suck this year! New York's most famous hooker turned up in the front row of Yigal Azrouel's show this morning. Her publicist said Kelly Cutrone had invited her. Naturally. [WWD]

The silver lining of this recession has been found: sex and liquor ads are now all over prime time! Even Fashion Week people are grovelling before lube companies for sponsorships! It's nice.

Fashion Week officially kicks off today. So which designers are actually showing, which ones have cancelled their plans, and which ones are just putting on much more low-key affairs? The Cut has a list. [NYM]

• Kelly Cutrone says normally at this time of year she'd be flying in a chef from India to cook for her. But this Fashion Week she's cutting back on account of the recession. Bring us a tissue! [WWD]
• Arnold Scaasi did not like Jason Wu's gown for Michelle Obama: "I don't think the inaugural gown was flattering in any way... She could have looked much better." Yeow. [NYT]
• Despite the rough economy, Justin Timberlake's William Rast label is holding up nicely. [NYM]
• Anna Sui has landed a book deal. [Fashionista]
• The plywood has been removed outside Topshop in Soho! [Racked]
• Marie Claire is giving away taxi rides to promote Running in Heels. [FWD]
• Istithmar may sell Barneys for less than half what they paid for it in '07. [BN]
• Rents are falling in the garment district, duh. [NYT]
• An alcoholic's guide to Fashion Week. [Pipeline]

As fashion designers struggle for survival in an economic environment that's seeing even the most profligate clothing whores balk at spending thousands on new outfits, a revolutionary idea has been proposed. Make sure you're sitting down, because you won't ever have heard the likes of this before: Believe it or not, it's being suggested that in order to stay in business, designers make clothes that people like. We know, this is so far from the dream that puts fire in the bellies of starry-eyed young Parsons students, but Diane von Furstenberg, nothing if not a fashion survivor herself, believes that runway shows ought to be unveiling "clothes that are real friends to women, so that 'friend' will make you feel good when you open your closet." As opposed to the usual enemies that make you feel bad! It's a risky proposition, but hey, with everything else we thought we understood about the world now turned upside down, it might just work.

• Richie Rich is back. Traver Rains won't be by his side, but Richie will show a solo collection during Fashion Week, and muses Amanda Lepore and Lydia Hearst will be in attendance, natch. [WWD]
• Proof that bling really is dead: Kimora Lee Simmons says she's toning down, since "now's not the time to be running all over and flaunting the money that we don't have." [WSJ]
• André Leon Talley's interview with Michelle Obama from the March issue of Vogue is now online. [Style.com]
• A roundup of what's left of the fall/winter collection at various stores. [MAS]
• A list of Valentine's Day-inspired goodies. [Pipeline]
• Remember Rachel Zoe's lawsuit last week? Yea, well, t-shirt designer Christopher Sauvé isn't putting up with any of it. [NYM]
• You can rest easier now. Jessica Simpson is launching a luggage line. [SW]

Fashion Week this year will just be full of commoners and riff-raff, because people are scalping "tickets" for it all over Craigslist! The five priciest—and five cheapest—"tickets" below. Buy some for the hobos!

Brace yourselves! As designers shrink their Fashion Week budgets, fewer celebrities will be paid to perch front row, smile for photographers, and pretend to be fans. Fashion's most high-profile show producer, Kelly Cutrone, isn't sorry, though, citing the contrivance of certain designer/celeb matchings: "The Miss Sixty show last season I thought was the least authentic show I'd really seen. I don't believe Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher were sitting around saying, 'What are you doing, honey? The shows are on. Let's go to Miss Sixty.'" Indeed! So we will assume that Cutrone won't be availing herself of any easy publicity by enlisting her reality TV cohorts Whitney Port and Olivia Palermo for her clients' shows.

• As you learned three weeks ago, Michelle Obama will appear on the March cover of Vogue. As for the magenta dress she wore for the Annie Leibovitz-lensed cover, it was designed by Jason Wu. [WaPo, WWD]
• A preview of the shows and parties planned for Fashion Week. [Style, NYM]
• Didn't get tix for the festivities next week? Try Craigslist. [NYM]
• It's still unclear what's going on with Olivier Theyskens and Nina Ricci. [WWD]
• Carine Roitfeld is designing a "youth-focused" edition of French Vogue. [FWD]
• Mandy Moore is shuttering her fashion line so she can focus on music. [WWD]
• Sales of wedding dresses and engagement rings are down. [WSJ]
• Georgina Chapman graces Harper's Bazaar's new issue alongside cheetahs and snakes, but not with other vicious animals like, say, her husband. [FWD]

• Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabanna are playing priests in Rob Marshall's new movie, Nine. Yes, that's right, priests. [WWD]
• McDonald's is the official coffee of Fashion Week. Yes, that's right, McDonald's. Free espresso all week, folks! [AdAge]
• Did Saks screw up retail forever when it slashed prices last November? Possibly. [WSJ]
• Istithmar says it has no plans to sell Barneys. [NYT]
• Vera Wang plans to branch out to footwear this spring. [WWD]
• Henry Holland's Grammy dress for MIA earned him tons of attention last night; he's now gearing up for London Fashion Week. [Telegraph, Independent]
• Jason Wu talks about what he has planned for Fashion Week. [NYDN]
• Alexander Wang is introducing limited-edition condoms. They'll be sold at Thompson Hotels and the proceeds go to Planned Parenthood. [NYM]

McDonald's is providing the "official coffee" of New York Fashion Week in a bid to boost its image among fashionistas. Fat chance. But it will probably do something to Fashion Week's image.