She strode in confidently, looking every inch the high-flying New York trendsetter. Her black jeans fit like a second skin, with the leather jacket, a gold chain and red nails adding just the right amount of sexy to Katie Holmes' businesslike outfit for her first ever fashion show for eponymous label Holmes & Yang.
Once inside the Lincoln Centre, there was a hint of nerves as the 33-year-old monitored the proceedings backstage along with her friend and business partner Jeanne Yang.
But Tom Cruise's former wife is a woman reborn, and her anxiety evaporated as she began giving the models a once over, checking that every last detail was perfect.
It's been a big week for Katie as the couple's daughter started school for the first time.
Suri, six, is now a pupil at of the elite $39,750-per-year Avenues School, which has campuses around the world in case youngsters need to follow their globetrotting parents to other countries. Her mother's fashion line reflects the stage she's at in life as a busy independent woman. Talking about the client she has in mind, the actress/designer could have been describing herself. She told US Elle magazine: "This woman is working very hard, but she needs some softness in her life to get through the day. She needs to be tough and to be taken seriously. She handles a lot."