Fashion great Valentino bowed out of the design business this week, but fashion just keeps on going.

New York's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week started yesterday, kicking off the season of runway shows that will continue on in London, Paris and Milan -- until not a pailette or pinstripe is left unobserved by fashionistas anywhere.

The eight-day extravaganza of high-fashion, celebrities, great beauties and big egos always is an exciting time. Shows begin at Bryant Park in Manhattan as early as 9 a.m. and end as late as 10 p.m. Parties go on until the wee hours.

As fashion writer, I'll start my coverage of Fashion Week on Saturday afternoon, with the exciting creations of Brazilian designer Amir Slama, whose line is called Rosa Cha. I'll end my time in New York with the trend-setting designer-to-watch Marc Jacobs. His collection never disappoints.

In between, under the glamorous Bryant Park tents, I'll see shows by such big names as Rebecca Taylor, Michael Kors, Carolina Herrera and Nanette Lepore. I'll skip the parties, by and large (too much work to do), but that doesn't mean I won't see celebrities. At just about every fashion show, the stars come out to see the fabulous clothes and be seen by cameras and fans.

At yesterday's BCBG Max Azria show, for example, some of the celebrities expected to attend included Ashlee Simpson, Brittany Snow, Martina McBride, Natasha Bedingfield (I love her "Unwritten" song), Ciara and one of The Cheetah Girls. I'm not sure I would know the Cheetah Girls if they came up to me with spotted signs around their necks. But apparently, they're a hot group.

To me, the real stars of Fashion Week are the designers, who churn out new creations season after season, in an ever-quickening retail cycle. I see them twice a year -- in February and September, for fall and spring collections, respectively -- but the designers are working all year round to outdo what they did just six months before.

Valentino, the great Italian designer, who founded his company in the early 1960s with his partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, was one of the best at reinventing himself year after year, season after season. Last July, he celebrated 45 years in the business. This week, at 75, he called it quits. He'll be missed by those who love fashion the most.

But in another sign that the cycle of fashion never ends, his successor was named 24 hours later. And her name sounds uncannily like the industry she is keeping alive: Alessandra Facchinetti.