Two weeks ago I was given the amazing opportunity to
participate in Fashion's Night Out and attend a
couple of shows at New York Fashion Week for the
spring/summer 2011 collections. If like
me you grew up reading Vogue magazine
and daydreaming about the glamorous world of fashion, then you can imagine the
Cinderella experience it was to be in the midst of all the Fashion Week festivities. As an obsessive garment sewist and fashion
design student I received a wealth of sewing inspiration to last me a very long
time.
To kick off Fashion Week on September 9, I went to Fashion's Night Out, a worldwide event created by Vogue
magazine to encourage fashionable shopping during the recession. This 2nd
annual shopping extravaganza is the consumer kick-off to Fashion Week designed to
make us mere mortals actually feel a part of it all even through in reality we
really aren't (unless you know the right people, but more on that later...). But
you can buy the FNO t-shirt and drink FNO bottled water (it's true that fashion
water tastes better than regular water), but more importantly you can run all
around town from 6-10 p.m. for fashion celebrity, designer, and model
appearances. And maybe you'll actually
buy something. But who can actually shop with all the distractions FNO
provides!
My friend B. and I started at Barneys
where we entered 9 floors of extravagant fashion chaos. We saw infamous window
dresser Simon Doonan on the first floor. Hipster
designer Alexander Wang on floor 8, up-and-coming
designer (and CFDA winner) Juan Carlos on floor 7 leading games of musical chairs
(very dangerous in stilettos), along with various fashion industry
personalities entertaining the crowd on other floors. I was standing behind uber-talented
London designer Duro Olowu (a personal favorite)
and tried to refrain from asking him to sign my FNO water bottle. Mary Kate and
Ashley Olsen, designer duo Proenza Schouler, supermodel
Liya Kebede, ceramic artist Jonathan Adler, and many more were also in attendance
making appearances. As we fought the fashion-obsessed crowds, I browsed around
happily fondling Rodarte dresses, petting Gaultier coats, and admiring the construction of Marni skirts.
After fighting the crowds to get back out the door, we
headed down 5th avenue to several more destinations. We mingled in a
monochromatic sea of sleek grey and black clad CK lovers at Calvin Klein. We admired the recent b + w CK campaign photographed
by Bryan Adams (yes, that Bryan Adams), who was scheduled to play a music set
later in the evening.
We made a quick stop in Louis
Vuitton to watch a mesmerizing performance art piece with around 50
beautiful men dressed like fancy waiters doing a synchronized dance performance
along the exposed three-level staircase. My favorite part was the cute dancer
boy in the store window holding up an LV bag and licking it slowly and
meaningfully. (Strange and riveting all at the same time.)
To finish off our fashionable night we made our final stop
in Burberry. I must confess that I am obsessed with designer Christopher
Bailey. Burberry Prorsum is so sleek and hip. The clothes, coats, and drop dead
gorgeous thigh-high leather boots are to die for. And who doesn't love their stunning ad
campaign featuring pouty lipped English boys and girls looking spot on cool. We
walked around Burberry sipping champagne while I tried to refrain from putting
on one of the amazing coats and rolling around on the floor in ecstasy. Then it
was off to dinner and bedtime. A perfect
Friday night in the city don't you think!
On Thursday I'll post about attending the shows at Fashion
Week, so stay tuned!