All About Fashion’s Night Out!

All About Fashion’s Night Out: Fashion industry insiders can sometimes be a touch snarky about Fashion’s Night Out (AKA FNO), and with understandable reason. The event began in 2009, as an initiative dreamed up by Anna Wintour and promoted by Vogue, to boost both fashion industry sales and the collective spirits of New York City. Fashion’s Night Out has changed the landscape of New York Fashion Week completely. It has democratized NYFW, and made the exclusive accessible to one and all. This year, over 1178 venues are participating in Fashion’s Night Out.


Night Out fashion was created in 2009 by Vogue editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and Diane von Furstenburg, President of the Council of fashion designers of America (CFDA), in the deepest part of the recession. Icons for industry met in Paris and developed the idea of bringing consumers ' favorite designers for them personally, taking into account the B2B model only trade and gives a consumer approach.

The aim was to motivate consumers to spend again, create a shopping event with enthusiasm, gave access to the community they loved the style of the designers and celebrities. Wintour, and South of the von Furstenburg then approached Michael Bloomberg Mayor of New York and the editors of Vogue at the international level to carry out the transaction.



The event was pitched as a strategy to end the cycle of deep and discount retailer, which was common almost fanatical in 2009. Participants promised that they would release sales event this evening, although that didn't stop them trot out retail shelves with items marked down already.

Terms of participation, success measurable. Eleven countries and 700 shops in the United States took to the evening celebrate in 2009. Participating retailers recorded an increase of 3.4 percent in store traffic at the national level, an increase of 48 percent in New York City alone, estimates of Shobertrak. An expedition company & amp; NYC shoppers, who previously never save 1300 visited 71 percent of them, and 61 percent of convenience, ventured outside their neighborhood and homes go.

2011 promises to be even higher. 18 countries (including Greece, United Kingdom, Japan, China, Brazil, France and South Korea), more than 250 cities in the United States and retailers consisted 1,178 in New York to attend the night to fashion. Two hundred online retailers also have signed on this year's event.

Strategic marketing initiative?

Although the event is attracting many communication professionals of the fashion industry still mixed feelings about the real benefits of Night Out fashion.

In the New York Times Last blog post, vintage style critic Cathy Horyn wrote, was "fashion night is a good idea, since it started back in the depths of recession, when the shops were almost empty. But now it has become a party organizational kickoff at fashion week, and while it probably raises money for some reason, I believe that the cost of security management, crowd and entertainment, not to mention the traffic headaches, outweigh the real benefits. "

The problem of the sale. Even if the same survey co. NYC North found that 75% of buyers purchase between said fashion night out in 2009, retailers told Forbes that recession-conscious consumers were really there to see the celebrities rather than store-something I witnessed in 2009 and 2010 first-hand.

Although most retailers refused to disclose numbers, Creative Director Barney in New York after 2009 Dunant Simon in less in terms of sales.

Why are the consumer purchases? In accordance with Wendy Bendoni, a Professor of fashion marketing at Woodbury University, "the majority of consumers still wonders why there is no sales promotion and doesn't see the need to leave in the middle of the crowd. They are educated properly before evening means for the fashion industry as a whole. "

Fashion's night out Bendoni says that retailers must as an opportunity to connect with their customers, "not its collections selling." She is of the opinion that a stellar FNO event can create customer loyalty. "Consumers will remember, where she first met the designer or influential personality who worship them, she helped draw their case" must-have "Items during the event '. The connection is the beginning of the relationship, the last decades, "she says."

Digital shop fashion – through the night?

While guest DJs and celebrity appearances not could pass merchandise at fashion Night Out shopping, there is still an opportunity to use the event as an opportunity for the participation of customers and marketing – to a large extent, I believe that, through digital.

This year, participating retailers large and small with creative ways to incorporate social media and digital technologies in their activities in stores and online. The most successful build from here they have constructed through social networks and mobile applications, use this platform to develop new forms of social customer relationship management (sCRM) which amended the social audience to buyers from time to time.

DKNY, for example, will be to deepen the relationship its built with clients through its brand DKNY PR girl on Twitter and Tumblr. Location of DKNY flagship of New York, buyers are encouraged to explore value reserve entire makes decorative DKNY women PER apartment-including, of course, its community. UK shoppers can follow in London, where the girl DKNY Twitter stream will be projected on a giant BlackBerry.

In the same way, the coach and Mattel "night" out of fashion to build relationships online. RAM, Mattel in the following list to make the city scavenger hunt for fun Barbie Foursquare is designed to meet key store attractive shopping bloggers participating in the collaboration.

This is not just a one-time events: old and new consumers will develop relations with both these campaigns. Of course, this marks the sale of the charts, but this social audiences that converts the location Jam for the recipients don't see the relationship over time, can hope to improve.