As Was The Fashion of The Day

Sunday, 11 September 2011

Fashion’s Night Out

After much deliberating and not so meticulous planning I headed to Bond Street for one of my favourite nights of the year, Fashion’s Night Out.

I visited (deep breath) Browns, Whistles, Mulberry, Smythson, Miu Miu, Matthew Williamson, DVF, Nicole Farhi, Tory Birch, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, DKNY, Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo and Moschino. The stores had gone all out with free drinks, canapés, DJs and a total party atmosphere. It was like being at a festival- the shops were the stages and the clothes were the stars. Everyone was treated like a VIP and there was so much going on that I wished I could split myself in two.

Highlights included Drinking gin punch from a teacup at Moschino, seeing Nicole Farhi chatting to Bill Nighy outside Nicole Farhi, the canapés at Tory Birch (best of the evening), nearly getting in the way of the band’s grand entrance at Burberry and seeing Matthew Williamson in Matthew Williamson happily chatting and posing for photos with customers. It was great to see the designers out supporting the event made it feel really special.

However, this year I was disappointed to see that some of the stores- Coach, Stella McCartney, Juicy Couture and Dior to name a few were operating a guest list only policy with clipboards and velvet ropes. These brands can have exclusive ‘fashion people’ parties for the next month in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Fashions Night Out is supposed to be for everyone, for regular people who love fashion and don’t get invited to those parties all the time. There were so many great parties at all the other shops along Bond Street that it didn’t matter to me, in fact, they made it easier for me to plan my route! It’s the principal really, I don’t want to see my favourite night turn into another industry only party.