Designers fancy a much more low-key Fashion Week

As the semiannual New York Fashion Week opens Friday, some big-name designers have pulled back, buyers are increasingly wary, and fashionistas have turned into recessionistas.

An industry notorious for excess is confronting an unprecedented shrinking market, in which the number of people willing to drop big bucks on clothing is dwindling. Even those not among the millions of Americans losing their jobs feel guilty chasing after the latest $5,000 "it" bag.

Designer Loris Diran, who is staging his sixth Fashion Week show off-site from the tents at Bryant Park, says designers don't want to be seen as "Marie Antoinettes" who are indifferent to economic struggles. "They are trying not to seem pompous and arrogant in the face of adversity," he says. "They're feeling it's almost politically incorrect to have a big $250,000 show. "