I'm looking forward to another trip to Toronto where I'll be participating in the Hot Docs series on May 7. I'm going to be talking about fashion, film and culture during a Q &A with Jeanne Becker at the University of Toronto that Friday night. It should be a fun evening.

I just returned from New York where I moderated a panel on American fashion at the Cooper Hewitt museum. I was a bit nervous because you never quite know what will interest folks in the audience. So I decided to try and divide the conversation into two parts: designing the clothes and selling the clothes. 

The panelists, of course, made my job so much easier: Maria Cornejo, Yeohlee Teng and Francisco Costa. They're all previous winners of the National Design Award. They were wonderfully chatty and smart and open. Yeohlee talked a lot about the connection between geography and creativity. Some of that comes out of her work to save the New York garment district. She and others have commissioned a study to look at the impact of proximity to design sensibility. It's an interesting concept and I'm looking forward to hearing the results of the researach.

 Francisco talked about what it meant to step into the role of women's designer for the iconic Calvin Klein brand. He also discussed how concerned he was when he decided to step away from the waif model -- which Calvin Klein practically invented -- and move towards a different look. 

Maria, who claimed to be shy, was terrific in discussing the hurdles -- and benefits -- of being a smaller, independent designer.

I learned a lot from everyone, frankly, and was really happy to have been involved. I'm told that the discussion will be posted on the museum's website. 

Afterwards, I had dinner with Cooper folks at a lovely Italian restaurant. The jury for this year's design awards will meet this month and the winners will be announced in May/June. The traditional White House luncheon for the winners sounds like it's a go, but the idea is to expand the event so that it's a "teachable moment." Last year, the winners did on-stage interviews at various locations around DC. This year, they're hoping to do something bigger, better and even more dazzling. It's all in the planning stages. Very hush-hush.

I also caught up with Reed Krakoff while I was in New York. He is the creative director of Coach who launched his own sportswear line in February. I have to admit that I was a bit iffy on the launch, but I had a chance to talk with Reed about the direction he's heading and, well, there's a reason he turned Coach into a billion dollar business. I'll be curious to see how things evolve for spring 2011. (God, I can't believe I just typed 2011!)

I also paid a visit to Krakoff's showroom, which is a study in dove gray flannel. Very understated and soothing. The accessories are stunning, especially an olive pony handbag that is right up my alley.

I'm looking forward to the lovely Easter weather. And while I do not have a bonnet, perhaps I will tuck a daisy in my hair for one of my weekend runs.