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Fashion Week, Designers, Celebrities Mark Sept. 11 As Shows Go On At Lincoln Center

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The fashion world stood still when the World Trade Centers came down in the middle of New York Fashion Week a decade ago, but the shows went on Sunday with moments of reflection and remembrance from the tents at Lincoln Center to venues within distance of ground zero.

"On a day like this, we're all American," U2's Bono said after the spring preview downtown for Edun, the African-inspired brand he founded with his wife, Ali Hewson.

In an intimate hall at the New York Public Library's flagship, guests at Victoria Beckham's show twice stopped in their tracks on the way to their seats for moments of silence -- one for each tower -- as scheduled by the designer.

RELATED: New York City Commemorates 9/11 | All You Need To Know About New York Fashion Week

All Fashion Week events are proceeding as planned through Thursday, in contrast to the jarring halt of the September previews after the terrorist attacks, said Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Lincoln Center's fashion director.

Oscar de la Renta
Designer Oscar de la Renta attends the Oscar de la Renta Pre-Fall 2011 Collection at 583 Park Avenue last December. (credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

On the front row at Lela Rose, she described the conflicting mood on the tragedy's anniversary: "Today is a day that is very exciting, but there is also a certain calmness, you know? Everyone can sort of just look at each other today and know exactly what each other is thinking."

Oscar de la Renta said he watched the anniversary unfold on TV in the morning before heading to the tents. "I was in tears. But I say this country is about the rebirth, all over again. It's like the phoenix bird reborn from its ashes."

Linda Fargo, senior vice president of fashion at Bergdorf Goodman, wore a patriotic blue blouse and red trousers on the Beckham front row. "I didn't expect to be so emotional today, but I am."

Designer Tracy Reese had been scheduled for her first New York Fashion Week show on Sept. 11, 2001, and was proud to mark the anniversary at the tents on the same date this year. "At the end of the day, New York is unlike any other city in the world. Everyone worked together to pick ourselves back up."

Several designers said they've made donations to various organizations in memory of the dead, including Derek Lam to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, and Donna Karan to Action America, an initiative to turn Sept. 11 into a day of positive action and volunteerism.

"We remember that day 10 years ago that changed our city forever," Karan said in her show notes. "We remember the courage, the inspiration, the compassion. How we came together, reaffirming our strength to the world. There truly is no place anywhere like our beloved city, New York. Our inspiration."

After eight days of spring previews in New York, shows move to London, then Milan and Paris.

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