Fashion’s Night Out Kind of a Bust

For anyone who was out on the streets of NYC this past September 10th, it was impossible to ignore the crowds and feverish fashion fans in search of the next boutique touting celebrity DJs/bartenders/etc. After all, it was Anna Wintour's Fashion's Night Out, which had most of Manhattan's (and many of the outer boroughs') stores staying open well into the night and offering special sales as well as A-list attendees. But, the big question on everyone's mind has long been, would it actually have an impact on lessening the burden of an especially terrible time for retailers? According to Forbes, it didn't. In most cases attendance was well above what was expected, but actual sales were minimal. Barney's Creative Director Simon Doonan went so far as to say that if the retailer were to participate again next year, "we'd have to rethink our strategy."

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On the other hand, there was one big seller of the night: “Fashion’s Night Out promotional T-shirt, sold for $30 at most participating retailers,” Doonan said. In most stores it sold out before the end of the night. However, seeing as store’s have agreed to donate 40% of promotional tee sales to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, it’s not exactly much money in the bank for the struggling retailers.