I feel little like change is in the air. I know everyone is sad about Raf and Calvin, but how long could sad clothes and sad girls and sad ads really go on? Sorry, I love Raf and always will, but I was never a fan of this marriage from day one. I think the fashion community put too much emphasis on how it was the ONLY show of the week to the detriment of the rest of the week for the last two years.

What it did allow to happen, though, was that this time, a few designers – some new, some not, many who are having their first shows who never had attention –have been slowly allowed to grow under the radar, and this time, with no Calvin to distract, it’s their time to shine. For the first time, I feel like there is the potential of a new guard: a young group of men and women who are doing something uniquely American-spirited; great sportswear with a Seventies Californian craft vibe, which seems to be in the air; each with a different point of view, and I don’t feel like one of them is derivative of any time period or anyone else; each making honest and appealing clothes that are not meant for editorial. They are actually meant to be worn.

And the thing they are refreshingly missing…superstylists phoning in their work. You can’t bring your A-game to a B-rated show and think that’s enough to collect your check. There is a difference between honoring the person who hired you and putting your personal stamp all over a collection. The same models (usually paid the least or a forced favor), the same styling, and the same hair and makeup team for every client is boring. And there’s been way too much of this for too many years. It’s time to stop resting on one note and get with a new momentum….move over and let the new guard take over. I’m tired of seeing the ghosts of Nicolas and Coach creeping up everywhere every season. Editor-in-chiefs are not the only ones taking the easy way out to save their jobs and holding the business back. Take chances.

And for me, there is the group of designers this week who did, and my advice to you all is: think big, stay small, and keep your ego in check. Don’t let an award or a slew of magazine editorials and hollow magazine prizes from “out of touch industry professions” blowing smoke up your arse veer you from the thing that brought you into this business. Your love of creating and making clothes and making the people who buy them feel transformed. I’ve watched this demise of almost every young designer I’ve ever mentored from drinking the Kool Aid and smoking the smoke, but now the old powers that be don’t really hold that power in this new world order. So stay focused kids!

Tom Ford is always impeccable, Ralph aspirational, and for many years we could only depend on Marc to close out and save the week with unabashed, fearless fashion. But for the first time, we don’t have to depend on just Marc to save the week, although he’ll give us the moment.

Editor’s Note: The views presented in this article reflect those of the author.