Fashion Frenzy
Thursday September 17, 2009 | Contributor: Jennifer Wright

During the recent Fashion’s Night Out—the undisputed kick-off to Fashion Week—I heard someone describe the evening as akin to eating an entire box of delicious chocolates all at once. Delightful, absolutely, but also overwhelming, heart-pounding and dizzying. For this Global Celebration of Fashion, event hosts Vogue, the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the City of New York encouraged every fashion retailer in the five boroughs to open their doors to anyone and everyone. Over 700 organizations responded with a kaleidoscope of offerings.



If you, sadly, could not attend, allow AskMelissa to offer some of the juiciest morsels for your consideration:

Like many who can be swayed by dessert, Bergdorf’s CEO Jim Gold was looking for the free cupcakes. (Here is a man who could capture my heart.) At his store, he was excited to welcome Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi, who was judging a celebrity cook-off. He noted that Lakshmi’s was, by far, the event he was most looking forward to. André Leon Talley and the Olsen Twins were also appearing at Bergdorf’s to ramp up the fashion excitement – hopefully Gold was at least somewhat excited about their presence, too.

Then in walked Victoria Beckham. She was not only loving Fashion’s Night Out and Bergdorf’s participation, but she was incredibly excited about the premiere of Gossip Girl‘s (the best show ever!) third season, which she’s “obsessed with.” Us, too!



Harper’s Bazaar editor Glenda Bailey was supportive of Bergdorf and the event, stating, “We do recognize how important the shows are, and we want to be out helping designers.” That said, she noted that every member of Harper’s editorial team would be going her own way during the evening. Perhaps this event is simply Vogue’s brainchild after all, not the darling of the whole fashion magazine community.

However, one member of the Vogue brain trust, Grace Coddington, was literally fending off the wolves at Prada.



A mob of people surrounded her as she patiently signed Fashion’s Night Out memorabilia – everything from T-shirts to flyers. (Presumably Anna Wintour was still in Queens!) Obviously, we’re not the only ones who fell in love with the creative director from The September Issue documentary.


Designer Elie Tahari, who hosted a performance by Alexa Ray Joel at his Soho store, was a tad dubious about the impact of Fashion’s Night Out, remarking somewhat bluntly, “Well, even a kick in the backside is a good thing if you’re facing the right direction.” Perhaps he was just distracted and exhausted after preparing for his safari-themed show earlier that day?





We tried to snap pictures of the new shoe designs at Louboutin’s (the collection will be released to the general public in the next few weeks) but were thwarted by a zealous security guard, who may have thought we were trying to copy the looks rather than just fondle the shoes, as any enthusiast would!  We can tell you, however, that there are a lot of studs in Louboutin’s immediate future. For now, you will have to make do with this picture of the store’s live action window display.

Perhaps the highlight of our evening was Vogue‘s European editor-at-large Hamish Bowles belting out Noel Coward tunes at the Juicy Couture flagship store on Fifth Avenue, claiming that his jazz-hands-inspired performance was an “anti-Susan Boyle movement.” No one could ever accuse him of singing while frumpy. The throng surrounding him made it impossible to take a good picture, but we did catch some other appropriately garbed attendees at the store.

Has this put you in the mood for more Fashion Week sightings? We expect so! Diane Von Furstenberg is optimistic that the night’s festivities will become an annual tradition, adding interest to all the designer shows. Let’s hope that next year is just as scrumptious.