Fashion’s Night Out: A Whirlwind of Chaos, Celebrities & Free Cocktails
Thursday, September 8, 2011 · New York
Fashion's Night Out I went to see if it lived up to the hype.
Nah.But I had a great night anyway. Photography by Wassim Serhan.
Fashion's Night Out is equal parts exhilarating and exhausting. Stores turn into nightclubs, models wander among shoppers, and the whole city hums with the kind of frantic glamour only New York can pull off. This year I started in the Meatpacking District, and the question I kept asking myself, glass of something free in hand, was simple: is this actually working?
The idea was Anna Wintour's. In September 2009, at the bottom of the recession, Vogue, the CFDA and NYC & Company asked stores to stay open late and throw a party, to get people back through the doors. Two years later it has gone global, and New York turns into one enormous shopping playground for a night. Picture Coachella, with more designer discounts and fewer mud stains.
I love a party. But I couldn't shake a question all night: does New York, the fashion capital of the world, really need more shopping? Or does it need shopping people can actually afford?
My night
The best moment was the one nobody planned: the Postelles playing a fashionably late set at Ted Baker, including a gloriously messy cover of "Hound Dog." Over at Puma, a pop-up ping-pong table had shoppers taking on a New York pro, because nothing says fashion like athletic hustle. And everywhere in between, mystery start-ups were working the sidewalks like caffeinated carnival barkers, pressing flyers into every hand that wasn't already holding a drink.
The best-dressed people weren't in the windows. Metallic shorts, leather, stripes, a pair of studded heels that stopped me mid-sentence, and more statement glasses per block than I've ever seen. FNO's real runway was the sidewalk outside the stores.
Where the energy was
- Missoni for Target pop-upThe one stop that actually delivered on affordable luxury. More on that below.
- Net-a-Porter's windowA shoppable tech window, early proof that fashion and digital were about to fall in love.
- Marc JacobsA carnival: trippy, glitter-drenched, gloriously over the top.
- Mercer Street block partyThe see-and-be-seen moment of the night.
- Ralph LaurenNacho Figueras in a blazer. Polo players in tailoring are always a mood.
For the perfume people
Fragrance had the best ideas of the night. At Saks, Kilian Hennessy handed out silver travel sprays to lucky Instagrammers. L'Artisan Parfumeur launched Batucada at Henri Bendel, Brazil in a bottle. And Diptyque threw a macaron-and-champagne party with a hidden-item scavenger hunt: find it, win a full bottle. Of everything I saw, that was the only thing that felt like a real reason to walk into a store.
Saks, in miniature
Saks Fifth Avenue was the whole night compressed into one building. Stella McCartney had a digital Polaroid booth with models (and truffles). Christian Cota led a live digital-painting collaboration. Prabal Gurung and Doo.Ri both made appearances. And Questlove DJed while Rebecca Minkoff and The Man Repeller ran a hair-braiding bar, with leather accents, naturally.
Elsewhere, Estelle performed at Diane von Furstenberg's flagship, and Justin Bieber turned up at Dolce & Gabbana, which tells you everything about who the crowds were really there for.
The boys came out too. White tees and skinny jeans against a chain-link fence, a cobalt blazer with red trousers, a bandana tied high at the throat. Downtown menswear in 2011 in one frame.
A party for shopping isn't a reason to shop
Here's my problem with it. Fashion's Night Out invites everyone, from Vogue editors to downtown kids, into the industry's excess for one night, and calls that democratic. But the prices on the racks are the same at 10pm as they were at 10am. You leave with a tote bag full of things you didn't know you needed, and nothing you actually came for.
There will always be a market for luxury. If you want to help retailers, give shoppers a real reason to buy.
The proof was right there in the same week. The Missoni for Target collection, a designer name at a price most people could pay, launched online a few days later and crashed Target's website, selling out within hours. That is what demand looks like. Not free champagne: accessible price.
Looking back, the numbers caught up with the party. FNO spread to more than 500 American cities and about 30 international markets, but the extra foot traffic didn't reliably turn into sales, and by the end some stores were adding dress codes, VIP lines and snacks only after you'd bought something. After crowds in SoHo got out of hand in 2012, organizers put the U.S. event on hiatus in February 2013, saying retailers wanted to spend their money elsewhere. The Business of Fashion was blunter: the night had become a costly distraction, especially for young brands.
To be fair, it did some good: over its run in the U.S., FNO raised more than $1.5 million for the New York City AIDS Fund. And I'll admit the buzz in those stores made a great opening act for Fashion Week. Fun in theory. But come on, guys. Do better: make the clothes reachable, and the people will come back on a Tuesday.
Quick answers
What was Fashion's Night Out?
A yearly night of late-opening shopping parties, launched in New York in September 2009 by Vogue, the CFDA and NYC & Company, and championed by Anna Wintour, to bring shoppers back into stores during the recession. It spread to more than 500 U.S. cities and about 30 international markets.
When was Fashion's Night Out 2011?
Thursday, September 8, 2011, the night before New York Fashion Week began.
Why did Fashion's Night Out end?
Organizers put it on hiatus in the U.S. in February 2013. The crowds were huge, but the foot traffic didn't reliably turn into sales, the parties had become expensive to stage, and the 2012 edition in SoHo was marred by out-of-control crowds.
Did Fashion's Night Out raise money for charity?
Yes, more than $1.5 million for the New York City AIDS Fund over its U.S. run.
