Stars In Their Eyes

Wednesday 23rd of September 2009 11:22:20 PM

Stars In Their Eyes

The fashion industry has taken a real beating during the recession, because haute couture is not one of life’s necessities. Affordable clothing like wholesale sweatshirts and t-shirts have fared much better but the reality is clothing sales are down across the board. When the New York fashion week rolled around this fall, the organizers decided they needed to add some attractions in order to offer fun activities that might also lead to increased sales.

This year the New York stores hosted parties on a Thursday night called Fashion’s Night Out. The parties were designed for shoppers to have a chance to get close to celebrities like Victoria Beckham and Chef Padma Lakshmi. Instead of the celebrities being separated from the crowd though, they mingled with browsers. Lakshmi even judged a cook-off at Bergdorf Goodman’s and the cooks were fashion designers. Throughout the stores hosting events could be found cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and plenty of amateur photographers snapping pictures of celebrities and attendees alike.

The idea for the pre-show parties was the brainchild of Anna Wintour who is the Editor for Vogue magazine. There were a variety of events too. For example, a coffee cart was placed outside Tiffany’s. Inside the store there were several Vogue editors offering styling advice to anyone who wanted to take advantage of the opportunities. Terri Coleman said, “Fashion has been so flat. The party element hasn’t been there. This gives them a reason to have fun.” Ms. Coleman made custom sandals for customers for the duration of the event. As the economy recovers, it will be interesting to see if consumer buying habits have changed or if the fashion industry will roar back close to its pre-recession level.