Fashion's Night Out in New York Cancelled

The popular and fashionable event “Fashion's Night Out,” initially instigated by Vogue editor Anna Wintour, is coming to a halt in New York City.

The event, which was first launched in 2009 in New York, was a way to celebrate shopping and designer fashion during a time when it was needed the most. Retailers saw an opportunity to invite shoppers to the stores to highlight the new fall-collections. After a successful event, it was repeated in 2010, 2011 and 2012 in other major fashion cities such as Paris, Milan and London.

Even if the event was positive in many aspects as it created awareness and engagement among fashionistas, it did not seem to increase sales. Instead it served as a “street festival” where visitors were invited for champagne, celebrity spotting and music performances. In recent years, stores even expanded their budgets for party favors in an attempt to draw VIP people, bloggers and press. But with the lack of actual buyers, designers started to question whether the event was financially profitable. As a result, Vogue, the Council of Fashion designers of America and NYC & Co. decided to end the FNO cooperation this year.

“Fashion’s Night Out brought great energy, optimism and enthusiasm to the city’s retailers, who make up a thriving part of our economy. We can always count on fashion industry leaders to use their creativity and savvy to benefit New York City — whether they are helping us recover from a national recession, a natural disaster or whatever the next challenge may be,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

For now, the event will still continue in other fashion cities, and Thailand and Ukraine will be hosting FNO for the first time this year.

Anna Madsen | Elite.