As our crew watched the BBC reports, our Milan Bureau Chief who was in New York when the World Trade Center was bombed and was actually staying in a hotel in downtown Manhattan started getting misty eyed, no doubt remembering the events three years ago.

And like the New York attacks, I was watching the events unfold on television, sitting in the comfort of my bedroom. During that time, I was worried about the FashionWindows crew that was attending New York Fashion Week. Since all phone lines were down, there was no way I could contact them.

As all of us tried to call our friends and relatives in London to make sure that they are safe, all of us were greeted by a computer voice saying that all circuits are busy. Déjà vu came once again.

On the last day of the haute couture shows in Paris, when the calendar are packed by very important names like Jean Paul Gaultier, everyone seem to have lost interest on fashion. And I cannot blame them.

Although all of us were ready to leave to attend our respective assigned shows, there was no hurry to stand up and peel our eyes from the television. But the show must go on.

So, misty eyed and our feet dragging, we left the hotel to do our jobs because in the end, that was the only thing that we can do to keep ourselves sane in an insane world gripped by terror.