Vogue magazine’s Fashion Night Out will come to Mexico to show that, despite the international image of the country as an unsafe place, “you can go out on the street and have a good time,” the magazine’s editor-in-chief for the country, Eva Hughes, told Efe on Monday.
For the third year in a row – albeit the first time in Mexico – on Sept. 8 a number of stores, especially luxury shops, in the Mexican capital and cities in 16 other countries will open their doors until late in the evening to allow the public to see the latest fashions and other products.
“It’s a chance to show the world that Mexico is able to have a fashion night rivaling the best that other cities in the world can muster,” said Hughes, who added that despite the fact that “there are situations that cannot be controlled” organizers expect “everything to go well and people to come out and enjoy themselves.”
Hughes said that the Fashion Night Out began in the United States in 2009, when many people stopped going out to shop due to the economic crisis. “There was a need to involve people again in the luxury world, in shopping … The success was such that new countries began to join in.”
The third annual Fashion’s Night Out — an international celebration of fashion, shopping and glamorous living — kicks off in Moscow on Tuesday night as Russian supermodel Natasha Poly and Vogue Russia editor-in-chief Viktoria Davydova lead the faithful on a luxurious mall crawl through the city’s most exclusive retail spots.
They will be accompanied by designers, celebrities and fashion fans for a night of schmoozing, champagne drinking, dancing, a bit of charity and, most importantly, shopping.
The purpose of the event, as Vogue Russia put it, is to support the fashion industry and inspire its fans.
Poly is one of the world’s most highly paid models, having posed for Chanel, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent and Victoria’s Secret. Last year, she was the face of Gucci’s spring-summer collection.
On Tuesday, she and Davydova will be visiting the TsUM, GUM, Vesna and Petrovsky Passazh shopping centers. Poly will also be selling 1,500 tote bags with her face on them; each bag will cost 2,000 rubles. Proceeds from the sales will go to “Who If Not Me?” — a charity that supports enrichment programs for orphans. Lucky fans will walk away with a tote bag signed by Poly.
Participants will get to photograph themselves in front of the Vogue logo, and take part in a lottery put on by MasterCard, one of the event’s official sponsors.
Dozens of fashion boutiques on Stoleshnikov Pereulok, Ulitsa Bolshaya Dmitrovka, Tretyakovsky Proyezd and other fashion areas will take part with special events and sales for the night. Free tickets to Cirque du Soleil are among the gifts on offer for those who buy certain brands during the night.
The Fashion’s Night Out campaign will unroll across 17 countries in the coming weeks. After Russia, it moves on to Spain, then Western Europe, the United States and across the world to Mexico, Brazil, India, China and other locales.
The idea for Fashion’s Night Out was hatched in spring 2009, when 13 Vogue editors-in-chief “declared war” on financial crisis gloominess from the lobby of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Paris. That September, the event unfolded in 13 world capitals. “Let’s shop, shop, shop!” exclaimed Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue.
The night is “meant to create a feeling of confidence among fashion consumers in these days of economic difficulties,” said Aliona Doletskaya, editor-in-chief of Vogue Russia at the time. “For many years, women would go shopping for pleasure, something that has temporarily declined during the crisis. We want them to experience this delight once again.”
In Moscow that fall, the wine flowed, and supermodel Naomi Campbell, model Tony Ward and designer Roland Mouret made appearances.