With NY Fashion Week just around the corner, the fashion industry is positively ravenous for the latest scoops and most daring styles.  To help ease your own case of fashion anxiety, we offer you our F/W 2010 “Designer Watch List.”

Sophie Theallet-Winner of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award, this French-born American designer lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.  Combining a deeply personal approach with her French sensibility, Theallet benefits greatly from her days working with two of the world’s foremost couturiers, Jean Paul Gaultier and Azzedine Alaia. After wearing the designer’s black berriboned dress last April, Michelle Obama single-handedly put Theallet on the global fashion map.

Jeremy Scott- The LA based designer who usually shows in London, is making his triumphant return to New York this season to participate in MAC & Milk’s lineup.   Perhaps the most coveted ticket this season, his style has been embraced by red carpet eccentrics like Lady Gaga and Bjork. This season Scott brings his eclectic and quirky approach to fashion (his S/S 2010 collection featured numerous Flintstones-inspired pieces) which promises to be a collection full of surprises and jaw dropping moments. 

Jason Wu- No doubt exploded on the scene after designing Michelle Obama’s white, one-shouldered, silk chiffon and Swarovski crystal inauguration gown.  His Spring 2010 collection didn’t disappoint either, with its out of the box edgy concept while maintaining his ladylike signature. Last November, Wu signed on with luxe cashmere titan, TSE, to design a capsule collection including fifteen womenswear pieces that will be presented at Fashion Week.

Vena Cava- Design duo Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock, known for taking a fresh spin on classic looks, promise to take on a more edgier approach to their collection. The Southern California natives, who met right before their freshman year at Parsons, set up shop together in Brooklyn, and their eclectic designs gained a cult following. It will be interesting to see how they blend their signature eye-catching colors and prints for their upcoming Fall collection.

Prabal Gurung- After five years as design director at Bill Blass, Gurung set off on his own and created one of the most buzzed about debut collections ever for Fall 2009.  Equally dazzling was his Spring 2010 collection where his personal architectural vision gave new life to day and party dresses.   Actresses Demi Moore and Leighton Meester have been spotted on the red carpet wearing his designs.

Alexander Wang- Wang has the ability to mix fashion and retail with such precision, giving even the king of marketing, Marc Jacobs, a run for his money.   Persistently his collections have editors thinking “cover” and retailers thinking “store windows.”  His past Spring 2010 collection was both daring and intoxicating to fashion’s most elite critics.

Naeem Khan- The Indian-born American fashion designer will be returning to Bryant Park after having spent two seasons showing his collections at his studio. Khan, whose ornate, intricately detailed dresses made from handmade fabrics have become the red carpet favorite of both starlets and Michelle Obama.  In fact, the designer has much to boast about; not only did his collection for HSN sell out in a record 10 minutes, but as First Lady Michelle Obama emerged at the Administration’s first state dinner in Khan’s handmade gold strapless gown adorned with sterling silver-plated appliqués, he became the third most Googled person in American on November 25.