What Does This Whole “Fashion’s Night Out” Thing Mean Anyway?
Posted by: Nina Carbone
Filed in:
style
2:50PM, Thursday August 13th 2009
If Anna Wintour and Diane von Furstenberg get their way, there will be no more sale racks to sift through for deals. But it’s a bit more complicated than that, as The Wall Street Journal explains. What is “Fashion’s Night Out”?
The fashion industry is hurting due to falling profits from huge discounts and the increasing prevalence of knockoffs. Last Thanksgiving, there were crazy sales on nearly every item in every store, and so the cycle of deep-discounting began. (There was no other way to get rid of the inventory stores had purchased six months earlier when the economy was stronger.) Now, those heavy discounts are putting fashion and retail in a tough spot. If you think your industry has been hard-hit with layoffs and closures, WSJ points out: “Retail employment has been one of the hardest hit sectors of the economy, leaving one-out-of-10 retail-industry employees out of work. Every level has been affected: Circuit City went out of business, and so has Christian Lacroix, which is currently on the sale block.”
So, Wintour and DVF have come up with a plan to bolster the otherwise sad state of retail. On Fashion’s Night Out, 700 stores in the U.S. and 11 other countries—including the U.K., Greece, Japan, China, Russia, India and Brazil—will keep their doors open until at least 11 p.m. on Sept. 10, the eve of New York Fashion Week, and sales of any kind will be discouraged. Vera Wang will have a DJ and an appearance by “American Idol” judge Kara DioGuardi. Saks will have 40 designers walking around the sales floors. There will be food, mani/pedis, and enough champagne to go around at Neiman Marcus. (Check out who’s doing what here.)
Says Wintour: “Another thing we need to counteract is that even among wealthy people, it is not really the thing to go shopping right now.” If you have the cash, and you aren’t racking up thousands on your credit card to purchase stuff you don’t need, go for that dress you’ve been eying for weeks. We won’t judge. It could help us all out in the long run. [Wall Street Journal]
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jimnist10
wrote on August 13 2009 @ 02:21 pm: [report]
These women are so out of touch with reality. That’s all I have to say about this.
Goldfinch86
wrote on August 13 2009 @ 02:58 pm: [report]
Yeah i know I work at a retail store on par with gap and express as far as prices, every day women come in and say, no this is far too much. You know what this may work for them because of their lines and the stores they are talking about but it’s going to hurt smaller stores where the average woman is shopping, she is the one who is not spending. When it’s you and your kids eating v. fashionable it clothes even when it’s a 70$ dress your not going to by it.
HereComestheSunQ
wrote on August 13 2009 @ 03:29 pm: [report]
Just a “btw” Diane von Furstenberg was AGAINST the no sales idea. She told Anna Wintour that it was illegal, which led to Wintour’s “Is that something we can change? We have friends in the White House now,” spiel.
*sam*
wrote on August 13 2009 @ 04:51 pm: [report]
wow. I have a feeling that unless this event if *highly* populated by the rich (i.e., the ENTIRE cast of *every* “real housewives” show), then this is going to be a *total* bust. The average consumer just doesn’t have the funds to shop at these high-end retail stores/boutiques even when they *are* discounting everything… and by discouraging huge sales to get people in the door, I just don’t see how this is going to fare well…
Goldfinch86
wrote on August 13 2009 @ 04:59 pm: [report]
Yes but *sam* these people live in lala land where they don’t realize the poor out number the rich. It’s obviously not going to work and it’s going to lose money all that, most likely not over time, over time is so not couture, and booze and funds to keep the stores open will be a waste. Even if people did shop it would not even cover the cost to keep the stores open that late. Sales is what makes many average customers come in and yes they might by a piece on full price but thats not going to be enough, you want your customer to by more full price but right now she’s not going to. Even celeb’s are shopping on the cheap now, and those that can afford it are cutting back so this idea is not going to work. It’s hard enough trying to convince women with money now to buy a 70$ dress let alone 700$ on one.