Fashion's Night Out will Return in 2010

On the night of September 10, New York’s streets were filled with thousands of models, designers and consumers for the first ever Fashion’s Night Out. Simply speaking, Fashion’s Night Out was one huge shopping trip with thousands of consumers, including their favorite designers. This night was a global shopping event that gave retailers the much-needed jump due to the hard economic times. The night was definitely deemed a success, as over 700 stores remained open until 11 p.m.

According to an independent survey, foot traffic throughout the participating stores increased by 50%. 75% of those shoppers bought something that night. Since the event, top retailers have been meeting with city officials to try and come up with strategies to increase the shopping and spending in the retail industry year round. Fashion’s Night Out 2010, is already in the makings, with the hopes of making it even bigger and better.

I think this is a fantastic way to spur on the retail industry. I can’t even imagine shopping and running into Anna Wintour or Sarah Jessica Parker. The team who came up with this idea was very creative and resourceful. Consumers like to feel as though they are valued customers, and it is through events like these that help build customer loyalty. Besides advertising and putting a name to the event, the only real difference was that all the stores decided to stay open until 11 p.m. This was such a cost effective event in the sense that they invited people out to spend money!

There is talk of hoping to get next years Fashion’s Night Out tax free, but it does not sound like government officials are too fond of that idea, and I can’t say I blame them. But then again if the goal is to increase revenue, that might be just the incentive people need.

Gap: Ready for Holiday Cheer

I absolutely love Gap’s advertising, especially during the holidays. This season is no different. Gap’s ads are fun, cheerful and colorful. This year the print ads are all about making snowflakes and peace signs out of people dressed in head to toe Gap clothing. The colorsconsist of reds, blacks, creams, grays, and blues and greens.

I think the print ads really capture the holiday spirit because they consist of a wide variety of people, featuring babies, kids, teens and adults. Through the span of people represented in these ads, Gap is reaching all of its brand extensions through one advertisement. It is smart way to reach their target market while saving the company money by focusing on the company as a whole. These advertisements are a very affective form of advertising and are hopefully attracting new customers as well as keeping the old ones.

The only advertisement I love more than Gap’s print advertisement is their television commercial. The whole commercial is a cheer with tons of energetic dancing and chanting. The dancers used are quite exceptional and the commercial exudes energy. By having the commercial and the print ad, Gap is reaching more people and is heightening their brand awareness. The consistent reinforcement of seeing these advertisements will help push Gap to top-of-mind awareness.

I think Gap has really gone above and beyond in their advertising and communications and think it will pay off this holiday season. I mean, who doesn’t want to go buy all of their clothes after seeing the commercial?

Brangelina Designs Jewelry for Asprey

Once again, another actor/actress has turned designer. In this case it is the dynamic couple, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The couple is partnering up with the high-end jewelry design company, Asprey. Their new collection consists of gold and silver accessories. This collection was named, The Protector, inspired by the snake, which according to Jolie is a protector of her family.

Pieces for this limited edition collection include, silver baby spoons, tooth boxes, and picture frames. For adults, pendants and rings are available in the form of curving snakes. Pitt and Jolie’s collection is part of Asprey’s goal to refocus the brand and bring in more revenue during the hard times of the recession.

The point of this entry is more so to discuss the “celebrity designer” than Brangelina’s new collection. Typically I am not a fan of celebrity designers. Although I do like Pitt and Jolie, I don’t think they should design jewelry just because they can. It bothers me that people are going to buy the collection just because of their name slapped on the designs.

In retail, I understand that money matters and companies are always trying to refresh their image and stay on top of the current trends. However, I do not think the skill of design, be it in fashion or jewelry, should be so easily dismissed.

Burberry: Art of the Trench

Burberry recently created a website celebrating the history and heritage of the classic trench coat. The main focus of the website is to interact the customers with the company by allowing them to submit photographs of themselves wearing the trench coats. Burberry features the best photographs on the website, for the world to see. The website acts as a living document of the trench.

Art of the Trench gives the history of the company and more specifically the trench coat. Thomas Burberry founded Burberry in 1891. The first store was located in London. Most of the trench coats were and are to this day made out of the textile Gabardine. This material is what allows the coats to be great in the wet weather. The website walks through the entire history of the trench coat starting in the 1900s and ending in the 2000s.

Scott Schuman, photographer and creator of the blog The Sartorialist, is the most recent photographer to collaborate with Burberry. His job was to travel around the world, including cities such as London, Milan, New York, Paris, Berlin, San Paulo, Venice, and photograph anyone he saw wearing a Burberry trench coat. The point was to capture real people in their everyday world, featuring the Burberry trench.

I first heard of Art of the Trench from The Sartorialist (Schuman’s blog) and immediately checked it out. I think it is a fantastic way to involve the customers and fans. It really shows how fashion can be a form of art. It provides many examples of how to wear the trench coat for people who already own one and for people who don’t own one; it encourages them to buy one. The website is very interactive, allowing browsers to narrow their search according to gender, color, weather and styling.

I think Burberry will see a lot of success from this website, and am thrilled to see the combination of fashion and art through an online source.

http://artofthetrench.com/#

Ivanka

Once again Ivanka Trump broke the mold by wearing a wedding dress with sleeves. I was thrilled to see that she chose a different style gown. I am so tired of the typical strapless wedding dresses accompanied by the "prom" up-do's. Ivanka glowed in this dress and looked very glamorous yet still like a classic bride. The couple wed at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Vera Wang designed this dress for Ms. Trump and only had a about one month to sew it. I can't imagine making this intricate of a gown in one month. Three different kinds of lace were used in the making of the dress, including Chantilly and Lyon. The bottom layer of the gown was embroidered and pieced together by hand. Ivanka was inspired by the famous actress Grace Kelly's wedding dress when she married Prince Rainer of Monaco back in 1956. Helen Rose, MGM's costume designer, was responsible for the design of Kelly's dress.

According to Ms. Wang, Ivanka was drawn to the lace as well as the royal factor of the gown. Ironically enough, Ivanka is considered "royalty" status in the states. She has a famous father, Donald Trump, she is the VP of a multi-million dollar company, she has her own jewelry line, is host of a reality t.v. show, attended an ivy league school (University of Pennsylvania) and has a stunning look about her. It only makes sense that when she married Jared Kushner, it would be in a gorgeous one-of-a-kind gown.

Ivanka recently converted to Judaism, Kushner's religion, so I am not surprised to see her in a gown that is more conservative. Personally, I think the wedding dress is exquisite. I don't have anything against strapless dresses, but I hate having to constantly pull them up (for us smaller chested girls!) and for that reason it is almost impossible to dance in them. Ms. Wang said it was freeing to finally create a dress that wasn't strapless because that is all she has been making for the past 15 years. I think it is refreshing to see a celebrity wear something tasteful and classy, especially on her wedding day.

I agree with Ms. Wang, I hope this style is here to stay.