“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

After seeing how enthusiastic and motivated consumers are that come out in droves to suck down all the free booze and “shop”–using the term loosely here–there is so much more to do altruistically speaking. All this good-will can be harnessed and the giving aspect of this event can be multiplied exponentially. … Read More »

Well, just when I thought I could not stand the slew of Republican candidates running for President in 2012 comes a reason to despise them even more. Because this pack of wolves was having their stupid debate on September 7, the same time Barack Obama wanted to announce his huge new jobs plan for the U.S., John ‘Orange’ Boehner drew a line in the sand and said, “We called firstzies”. So like the gentlemen Barack is, he moved his big speech to September 8, on Fashion’s Night Out. Between the NFL Pre season game and Anna Wintour, he will lose… Read More »

There are millions of opinions about Fashion’s Night Out and half of them belong to me. My client, the Meatpacking District, was agog with festivities, in the streets, in the stores, the energy was palpable from the second the clock struck 6PM. It was like New Year’s Eve came early…only with shopping. Did you buy something? I did. Everyone that participated in Fashion Lives Downtown did a fantastic job and this new found retail holiday needs to happen every month. Maybe not with such a fervor and expense. But Fashion’s Night Out needs to be monthly. Period. Retailers needs more… Read More »

What do Selma Blair, Christina Ricci, Kelly Rowland, Sean Lennon, Robin Thicke, Charlotte Kemp Muhl, Helena Christensen, Miike Snow, DJ Cassidy, Ali Hewson, Harley Viera Newton, Mia Morretti have in common? Fashion’s Night Out in the Meatpacking District, which we have sub-named…Fashion Lives Downtown. Say what you want about Fashion’s Night Out, that Anna is only doing this for Vogue, or that Jews in Borough Park are mortified because it falls on Rosh Hashanah, or that this is about drinking and not shopping, but Fashion’s Night Out is like The (Fabulous) Blob and literally engulfing all of Manhattan. Yes, I… Read More »

Word is out that Anna Wintour is kicking up the heat on Fashion’s Night Out and pitching the networks for a Victoria’s Secret-type televised special for CBS. The show would include a huge, grand-scale fashion show filmed at Lincoln Center, which would also serve as the official kick-off to the new home of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, which is being moved uptown in September. That should create enough drama, cat fights and gridlock to choke a horse. No one is looking forward to moving the tents uptown to the Big Apple Circus tents except Anna and her underling Stephanie Winston… Read More »

This is it…the night of all nights. The Big Kahuna of shopping nights. It’s Fashion’s Night Out and after all the hub-buh and nay saying and ruckus…it’s here. I can feel it in the air. Can’t you? Anna Wintour and I have been staring at weather.com and accuweather.com for days hoping the forecast would change. And you know, 40% chance of rain is better than 50%. So I am going to be optimistic and say, it’s going to be fine. And what’s with God anyway? Isn’t he a fan of Sex and the City? Because Fashion’s Night Out is like… Read More »

Here’s what’s missing from the Fashion’s Night Out PSA…PEOPLE…real people! People like the people that are being courted to come out in droves to spend, spend, spend. Now, if you wanted to engage people like me, with expendable income, discerning taste and a huge supporter of the fashion industry, then you might not have shoved the obvious “celebrities” or rather “fashion celebrities”, in our faces. All those people damn well want you to come out and shop…they are white knuckling through this economic retail crisis. A better, more sophisticated idea would have been use The Sartorialist as a model for… Read More »

Don’t get me wrong, I have been a cheerleader for Fashion’s Night Out since the day it was first announced over three years ago. In fact, we rallied retailers that first year as there were plenty of skeptics. Naturally, Anna Wintour prevailed. The 3rd Annual Fashion’s Night Out was a zoo, especially down in the Meatpacking District. So zoo-like, that it was unpleasant in certain spots, with lines to get into stores, blaring dueling DJ’s in the streets and plastic cups strewn on the ground, like a bad weekend street fair. The street activities need some curating, benchmarks, something, because… Read More »

Nothing is garnering more media attention than Fashion’s Night Out. Not the Oscars, the MTV Music Awards, New York Fashion Week, Snooki. Nothing.  When we look at what drove Anna Wintour to devise one of the greatest marketing plans on Earth, we see at the core, a beautiful, well-intended, generous, spirited gem of an idea. “Bring people back to the stores.” Funny, that when George Bush said the same thing after 9-11, that people should just “Go Shopping”, it was met with mixed emotions. Actually, Democrats were apoplectic. But if you think about it…it was a good idea. When is… Read More »

As we wind down from a financially awkward year and look back at “What the F#@k Was That?!?”, let’s take a moment to consider what things we would like to see go away in 2010. Today’s article in Women’s Wear Daily on Novelty Fading for Pop-Up Shops suggests that they are losing steam, but retail events will be more necessary than ever, think Fashion’s Night Out. Pop-Up shops are not going anywhere since there are so many great reasons for them to continue thriving, considering all the empty retail spaces, not to mention the built-in marketing opportunities for the participating… Read More »