Want to know the big secret about Fashion’s Night Out? It’s not the designers. It’s not the models. It’s not the clothing or the runway shows or the front row you might be lucky enough to sit in. For one night it’s all about opening up fashion’s little world to a band of inside outsiders — New Yorkers. Manhattanites, Borough-ites and maybe suburbanites. On September 10th, New York hosted the biggest party for itself in a long time — and nearly every invitee was in attendance.
Fashion is a casual love of mine. Sometimes I’m obsessed and downright needy about it. Sometimes I hate it and want only to throw on every piece of black I own, perhaps at the same time. Mostly though I tend to be balanced about it, maintaining a long list of unattainable wants and the middling offerings I settle for out of financial considerations. So no, I’m not part of fashion’s elite nor would I ever be. That’s not really my goal anyway.
For me it’s more about the sights and sounds of fashion: who wore what accessorized by this or that. Don’t give me some recounting of it when I could see it for myself. Fashion’s Night Out is where the beta crowd mixes with the alphas and the gammas with one big wink and nod of approval.
And so my party began just after sundown that night. I eschewed the standard NYC uniform of black, grey and more black for a purple skirt and vaguely military tank top. So did many others: I saw feathers and fringe and stilettos and capes. Men dressed to the nines and ladies coming out of their officewear shells. There were no repeats of looks among the throngs of fashion fans. Everyone had their own spin to their look.
Skipped: any store with a line, any event with an “A-lister” aka velvet rope, anything that didn’t have either food or drinks.
Hit: Midtown (57th St, natch), Meatpacking District, Soho. Check, check, check.
The night started in the basement of Barney’s, where peacocks strutted among makeup aplenty. We met Claudio Riaz and Daphne Guinness while seeking out the perfect smoky eye and pink lip for the night. A happy surprise arrived for me when I found Les Khakis de Chanel from my new friend Renee, meaning I could skip the ungodly line at Chanel’s midtown store. We headed upstairs, briefly seeing Tavi before making it up to Alexander Wang’s dance party. Though we never got near him due to the crowds it’s satisfying to know that we danced with him for 30 minutes or so. From there we went down the ready-to-wear main where we played ping pong with identities unknown. A final stop in shoes left us oohing and aahing over the new Lanvin flats and a fantastically sparkly pair of Louboutin heels. A kindly staffer offered us water and caramel corn, we accepted the former and then moved along. We grabbed our Fashion’s Night Out tops to support the cause and wondered out loud how exactly this event helps retailers when it costs so much to put on.
We couldn’t wonder for long though as it was off to our next location — Anthropologie in Chelsea Market. I passed racks of items worth trying on but our time was limited so I let well enough alone. I’d missed the totes unfortunately but we made it in time for the main event. We said hi to Anthro’s wonderful community team, grabbed some drinks and then headed outside to watch artist Jim Denevan sketch out a new piece of art on 9th Ave.
Under lights from the Chelsea Market marquee with a film crew on hand, Denevan worked intently upon canvas with only a bark-enclosed black marker. Traffic slowed on the street to investigate the hullabaloo while people on the sidewalk stopped for a minute or two. My friend and I watched as Denevan’s Escher-like art came to life. We realized he was drawing concentric fish and we wondered if the market itself inspired him. After a little bit we made promises to return and moved on to our next destination.
Into the Meatpacking District we went, with plans to meet up with some additional friends at the Vince store. Along the way we wanted to stop at Stella McCartney and McQueen. A rude doorman at the latter kept us out (seriously, lame) and at the former it was VIPs only, to which we give the New Yorker’s salute. (Fuck that.) So instead we moved on to DVF, where the lovely Ms. Fursternberg herself was greeting guests with nary a velvet rope in sight. We spotted the night’s patron saint Anna Wintour on her way out. Though she did not seem to smile at all she did offer a polite wave to the crowd yelling her name. Once inside we were greeted with some much appreciated water and drinks by a very hot waiter and his friendly companions. We admired the clothing for a bit until the crowd became crushing and we needed some air.
At our next stop, Paige Denim, a bouncer again tried giving us a hard time. But my friend was convincing and soon we slipped inside. After losing a raffle for a free pair of jeans we tasted the cupcakes and were offered free champagne. (Thanks, Moet!) Politely declining since we were already buzzed I realized I was already violating open container laws. I quickly disposed of my drink that was already in-hand, my friend bought her jeggings and then we moved on according to plan. Or tried to, anyway. We walked around from street to street but couldn’t seem to locate the Vince store where our friends asked us to meet. After awhile we just gave up and sent an apologetic text message with promises to kiss and make up…later.
We found ourselves near Jeffrey where a crowd had gathered. Thankfully there were no issues getting inside for some inspired conversation. My friend wanted to try on some shoes so we plopped ourselves down for a bit. I watched the fashion parading by while she tried on several pairs. And then who did we spot walking right towards us? Jason Wu. He’d shown his designs earlier in the day and my friend gasped when she saw him heading our way. We were in so much shock that we just let him pass; luckily we caught him on our way out to say hello at last.
After walking around for a bit and taking in the sights, we headed back to Anthro to see the finished creation. It was beautiful and somewhat haunting with the red-eyed fish. We took it in for a bit and then spoke to Mr. Denevan for just a bit. He was, of course, incredibly nice.
As luck would have it we spotted an emptying cab so we ran towards it to make it down to our next stop. Soho! Where I work and play was calling to us for the last stop of the night. Our cab driver laughed when we told him our intent — Mercer and Prince please, oh huh, what’s that? Traffic down there? Streets are closed? We don’t care! That’s where we need to be.
Our hope was to get to the Rag & Bone/Phillip Lim block party but at 11:00 we were only at North Houston and Varick with several blocks of brake lights ahead. Our driver was chatting us up…a half and hour later we were close enough to jump. We said our goodbyes and with haste made our way down Mercer. Sadly by the time we made it to our block the stores were all closed — did they forget that parties in NYC don’t start until 11? We’d missed out on the burgers, the hipster ice cream and the drinks but the crowd was still alive so we danced and made conversation.
Then we heard a bunch of screams. Turns out Marc Jacobs had made the scene! Like a herd of sheep we all bah’ed and stampeded, hoping to catch a glimpse of the designer we needed. Unfortunately we never got close and I suspect that we all fell for a small hoax. Undeterred my friend and I still wanted to shop, so we headed for West Broadway and left all the chumps. We passed by the newly re-opened Chanel which still sported quite a line outside despite it being nearly midnight. Finally on W. Broadway (not to be confused with regular Broadway) we headed to DKNY where a $50 gift card was waiting for each of us. Hooray! My friend bought a beautiful wrap for a fashion show she’s seeing on Tuesday while I resisted the urge to relive my high school years in a tartan pleated skirt. Oh preppy, you have returned!
It was well after midnight when we stopped at our office for a quick refresher and then mingled with the crowd on Spring St for awhile. Finally the yawns started to come so we said our goodbyes and headed home. I can’t believe what a great time I had; it was the most fun I’ve had shopping in a long time. Every night should be such a great party for all things fashion and everyone should be invited. I can’t wait to do it again next year.
