PARTY TIME: The Wall Street Journal's newfound fascination with fashion — or at least the ad dollars it offers — shows no signs of abating. The paper, which last season held a bash in Milan, this time round will kick off New York Fashion Week by partnering with Alek Wek to host a cocktail party Tuesday to fete her book, "Alek," which chronicles her journey from former Sudanese refugee to international model. Wek also has a collection of handbags and is the new face of MAC Cosmetics. She decided to do the book after traveling back to Sudan three years ago. "I had to relive moments that weren't so pleasant," Wek said. "But I thought there were stories here that needed to be brought to life." — A.W.

ROOM WITH A VIEW: It isn't only business newspapers eager to tap into the fashion mother lode. Take the shelter category, where some magazines are now proclaiming themselves style or design titles rather than the more limiting "shelter" moniker. Still others have made the full-court press on fashion advertisers by publishing special "fashion" issues. The strategy has in part helped Elle Decor, which publishes an annual October Glamour issue, grow its ad pages 22 percent through June, to 462 pages. This year's issue, on newsstands Sept. 14, features the homes of Milly's Michelle Smith, who said she knew her Madison Avenue apartment was perfect "when I realized the Christian Louboutin shop was right across the street"; Gilles Mendel; Valentino's Charlene de Ganay; Josie Natori, and Carlos Miele, whose sleek downtown spread was shot by Elle's Gilles Bensimon. The fashionable subjects were accompanied by ads from new advertisers including Estée Lauder, Prada, Tod's, Bottega Veneta, Cole Haan, Dior and Etro. The October issue is Elle Decor's second largest since 2001. But Elle Decor isn't the only one hopping onto the bandwagon: The September issue of Domino also had a fashion theme with the likes of Marc Jacobs, the duo behind Libertine, Kenneth Jay Lane, Alberta Ferretti and Bella Freud. So who copied whom? — Stephanie D. Smith