How Emerson's Spring 2013 Collection Came to Be

East Bridgewater designer Jackie Fraser-Swan showed for the third time at Lincoln Center last night.

(Emerson designer Jackie Fraser-Swan in her Newbury Street studio / Photo by Scott M. Lacey)

Because I couldn’t make East Bridgewater designer Jackie Fraser-Swan’s New York Fashion Week show last night, I sent Paula Abdul in my place (OK, that’s not exactly what happened, but the ex-“American Idol” judge was in the front row.) There was a live stream of the show on emerson-collection.com, but the video isn’t available for embedding yet — in the meantime, here are photos and a highlights clip.

I profiled Fraser-Swan and her nascent Emerson line for our September issue, so it was interesting to see her sketches and fabrics come to life on the runway, even from afar. I took some snaps of Fraser-Swan’s inspiration board for spring 2013 at her Newbury Street studio earlier this summer — you can see how the collection evolved from concept to catwalk:

The photo on the lower left, of beesting-lipped model Lindsey Wixson holding a gun at an indoor shooting range from Style.com’s magazine, sparked Fraser-Swan’s story for the season, which revolves around creepy 70s horror movies and the macabre Rob Zombie and Tim Burton flicks that pay homage to that era.

Printed silks and velvet laces were among the fabrics Fraser-Swan sourced from Paris for the collection.

Peplum silhouettes were on her mind as she sketched the spring 2013 designs.