A Night Out for Fashion's Finest

Last Thursday, New York's most stylish shoppers pulled out the one accessory they typically reserve for a cozy evening at home: a pair of comfy, worn-in flats.

But that comfort-driven fashion statement was all for a good cause: Fashion's Night Out, a citywide initiative to get people feeling good about shopping again. The massive event, which included over 700 stores in New York's five boroughs – and shops in 12 other countries too – also raised money for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center through sales of a (predictably chic) charity t-shirt. Participating stores also set up collection bins for a clothing drive to gather donations for AIDS-related charities in the New York area.

Unquestionably, those are substantial causes … but the main spirit of the event was as bubbly and festive as the champagne that many stores offered shoppers (for free!). Retailers stayed open until 11 p.m., and the streets in many parts of Manhattan – the West Village, SoHo, Midtown – felt a bit like Halloween meets New Year's Eve meets a crowd scene from Sex and The City. Even though the night was cool and misty instead of warm and clear, FNO turned a plain old weeknight into a glamorous, uber-fashionable party.

Good Taste

To help make the evening extra-special, many stores planned truly unique events that reflected their sensibilities … and brought in shoppers to boot. Bergdorf Goodman, for example, staged a designer cook-off, with the likes of Naeem Kahn, Cynthia Rowley and Peter Som whipping up their favorite dishes. Bringing her best Top Chef sensibilities to the table, host Padma Lakshmi (a designer in her own right these days, with a beautiful line of jewelry) judged the dishes. The winner? Lela Rose, who prepared a corn crepe topped with lobster and cilantro-pine nut salsa.

Another one of the contestants, Edward Bess (whose eponymous beauty line is sold at Bergdorf), explained why he was so happy to participate. "Bergdorf is my second home, so to spend an evening watching food being made in my favorite restaurant was a natural. I love, love, love the Bergdorf restaurant. It's my favorite escape. And tonight gets people out, gets people shopping and makes everyone aware of fashion." (For the record, although his dish – shrimp and grits – didn't win, it was delicious!)

A-List Style

There were also some glamorous celebrity sightings at Bergdorf last night, with Victoria Beckham causing mayhem as she arrived and the Olsen Twins bartending upstairs. There was star power all over the city, with Justin Timberlake showing up at Saks Fifth Avenue, Hugh Jackman at Jeffrey New York, Kate Hudson at Macy's in Queens and Stella McCartney, and Blake Lively at Ralph Lauren. Her fellow "Gossip Girl" co-star Taylor Momsen didn't just show up, she sang with her band The Pretty Reckless as part of a block party on Bleecker Street (aka hipster central) put together for the evening by the folks at Teen Vogue. In the "credit where credit's due" department, it's gotta be said that the night was the brainchild of Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour as a way to get people feeling good about supporting the fashion industry in the most fun way possible: shopping!

And for those fashionistas whose dream is to see their favorite designers (not to mention models – see Karolina Kurkova at right) FNO did not disappoint. A virtual, um, laundry list of designers were out in force, including Donna Karan, Alexander Wang, Phillip Lim, Richard Chai, Manolo Blahnik, Adam Lippes and many, many more. Oscar de la Renta appeared at his store and actually sang, as did Isaac Mizrahi, who performed at Bergdorf Goodman. "I'm giving my all to the idea of getting people into the stores," Mizrahi said. "When I commit to an idea I like I really commit. I think people forgot how much fun it is to shop and I'll do anything to remind them including sing and tell jokes. Right now, it's crucial to get people shopping again."  

Designer Lisa Perry agreed. "I think it's great to get shoppers excited to find things that are new and exciting," she said. "I think everybody likes this idea of going all over the city, to different places. It's fun." She split her night between two places: her upbeat SoHo boutique and Barneys New York, where she launched her new children's line.

Isabel Toledo -– one of Michelle Obama's favorite designers -– was also at Barneys, where she drew long lines of people all night long as she and her husband Ruben signed copies of their new book Isabel Toledo: Fashion from the Inside Out by a display of her clothing. "This has been great," she raved. "I've gotten so many students coming up -– a lot of them have actually tried to make patterns. And I'm really excited that people have come over to look at the clothes."

Shop 'Til You Drop

Aside from all of the glamour, the night was really all about giving shoppers an excuse to go into stores, get out for a cocktail and some great people watching, meet up with friends and ultimately see some irresistible goodies to buy. There was an open-door feel at even the poshest boutiques, like Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent, that felt welcoming and inviting. (Shopper Simona, pictured here, even brought her pooch Conan to the DKNY event.)

And every shop you strolled into seemed to have something fun going on, whether it was an artist custom-painting bags (at Coach), a magazine launch (for Observer Playground, at DKNY), or just yummy plates of food (French macarons at Eres.)

"The creativity and support we've seen from the City's fashion designers and retailers has been tremendous," observed George Fertitta, CEO NYC & Company, which helped organize the event. "Fashion's Night Out has been a shining example of the City's diverse retail and fashion industries' creativity and cutting edge design."

Was all that enough to actually get people spending money last night as opposed to just enjoying the spectacle? The jury's still out on that one … but at least everyone seemed to have a good time!

All photos by Darragh Worland.

First photo: The party at Searle.

Second photo: Designers competing in a Cook-Off at Bergdorfs hold up their culinary creations. From left to right: Lela Rose (who won the competition), Peter Som, Padma Lakshmi (host of Bravo TV's Top Chef), Gilles Mendel, Naeem Khan.