Fashion’s Night Out (FNO) is an unprecedented global initiative created to celebrate fashion, restore consumer confidence, boost the industry’s economy and put the fun back in shopping. In the United States, FNO is a collaboration between American Vogue, the Council of Fashion Designers of America and various cities including NYC and LA.
This year marked the second annual Fashion’s Night Out for Los Angeles. Over 300 retailers participated in this city-wide event. I attended the opening ceremony, held at the Beverly Center and the hub of all the festivities. It was hosted by LA Mayor Villaraigosa, West-Coast Editor of Vogue- Lisa Love, Will.i.am, Perez Hilton and Stephanie Pratt. I wore (my own design) a dress made from the FNOla tees- designed by FIDM student Mark Blaskovits and benefitting the California Fashion Foundation with 100% of the proceeds from tee sales going to their scholarship fund for fashion education. I had the opportunity to briefly get Perez Hilton’s and Anjelica Huston’s input on FNO. According to Perez, FNOLA is a “very clever way to make money and fool people into thinking it’s all about fashion. It’s about money, commerce and consumerism and being slaves to that…But if you wanna be a slave, you might as well look good.” He also did a fabulous job at promoting his site, Cocoperez, “which is so FIERCE, it will blind you!” Anjelica had a lighter approach to FNO. “I think the people in America feel the need to celebrate something. The times have been grim and we need a bit of fashion in our lives…”
The event started with a welcome by the Mayor who urged the crowd to “shop til they drop.” The fashion show was the highlight of the evening, showcasing the latest trends from various Beverly Center vendors.
It was such a bummer that the evening ended at 9/10pm. FNO needs to extend to the next day (yes, I know it would defeat the purpose, but there just wasn’t enough time to hit every event…). But I was able to visit the Anya Hindmarch store on Robertson Boulevard, where you could pick any purse in the store (except the sale items) and pose with it during a mini-photoshoot by photographer Brian To. The best pose gets to keep the purse. I then had to rush off to the Grove for the Bloggers Cafe for Two Point Oh LA and Fashion Los Angeles. I mingled with my fellow blogger gal-pals and watched as a few of LA’s top stylists: Margaret Sche, Kadi Prescott, Reah Norman and Bree Cooley, and Kallah Maguire offered up some styling tips (and demonstrations of the looks on mannequins and models). We then ventured over to Nordstrom and waited to catch a peep at Fergie, who was making an in-store appearance for her shoe line. Meeting her was impossible, due to the insane amount of security and the mob of kids and teens. The night was a major success and very exhausting, but I’m looking forward to next year’s, as I’m sure it’ll just keep getting better and perhaps even better.
Special Thanks: J, Shirley Watson (Media Contact for FIDM) and her lovely assistants, Cynthia Ruiz (Board of Public Works, Commissioner, Fashion Liason, City of Los Angeles), Nicole Williams (Project Manager-City of Los Angeles), Steve Valentine of the Valentine Group, Kristen Calavas, Mik of Serfontaine Denim, Ilse Metchek of the California Fashion Association, Lisa Love, Anjelica Huston, Perez Hilton, Mena Suvari, Mark Blaskovits, Diana Bianchini of Di Moda PR, Kelsi Smith, the fellow bloggers, Michael Venedicto of Fashion Los Angeles and all the volunteers, models, stylists and designers.
**Photos by Brian To**
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