Fashion's Night Out 2012

Vogue Fashion’s Night Out : London : 2012 1

“Fashion is not something that
exists in dresses only. Fashion is in
the sky, in the street, fashion has to
do with ideas, the way we live, what
is happening.”

Coco Chanel

Introduction
Undoubtedly the biggest night on the High Street
calendar, ‘Fashion’s Night Out’, has proved itself
to be a win-win for retailers - not only delivering
sales but also a huge amount of exposure, with
over 50,000 people on the streets
of central London.

With over 400 stores taking part in London alone,
we headed to Bond Street, and beyond, to bring you
reports on our favourite brands of the evening. As well
as talking to figures from within the industry, we also
spoke to consumers to get a picture of what makes
‘Fashion’s Night Out’ a major opportunity for brands -
and not just fashion brands.

The event was established in 2009 by Vogue
editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour and CFDA president and
designer, Diane von Furstenberg, as a way to bring
shoppers into stores without resorting to traditional
discount tactics - although discounts are very much
part of the appeal.

Aside from the bargains, crowds are swept away in
a heady mix of catwalk shows, branded experiences,
limited-edition goodies and, of course, the free
champagne. As they shop and party alongside
Hollywood starlets, music artists, models, designers
and the stars of stage and screen, ‘Fashion’s Night Out’
allows everyone to feel truly fabulous for one night.

‘Fashion’s Night Out’ is the festival for fashionistas.


92 %
Increase in footfall

1 Night
4 Years
5 Hours
400
Stores in London

50,000
19 Countries 500 Cities
People

30,000 210,000 +
Likes promo viral views
(London)

217,000 162,000
Likes
followers
(FNO NYC) (FNO NYC)

The 135,000
Numbers:
Tweets over seven days
(Topsy.com)


It’s buzzing. I have never
seen anything like this
in London

Florence Brudenell-Bruce

“We have a young generation
of designers and we like to
get close to our customers”
“A fantastic,
Jonathan Saunders big shopping evening”

Alexandra Shulman,
Editor, Vogue

It’s a proper celebration of
British fashion and it’s about
brand building

Matthew Williamson
“It really is a new holiday.
The night for people who love
fashion and style to celebrate”

Michael Korrs

What the
industry said:

“I think this is a
wonderful initiative,
I love the people.”
Nick (24) & Stefan (23)

“To be honest I hadn’t really
heard of it before tonight but
I’m really pleased we’ve
come down. The atmosphere
“It was really cool is amazing!”
and interesting. I just
wanted to look at some Joseph (26)
people who are cooler
than me mainly.”
Sara (22) & Alex (24)
“An amazing atmosphere.
I’ve never seen as many
cool people in one
“I’ve been in London area, ever.”
since the first Fashion’s
Night Out so it’s kind of Heather (24)
a tradition to do it with
my girl friends.”
“I have come out to see
Verity (26) people, be inspired, go to
a few parties and see new
products. Basically to
enjoy myself.”
“We came out tonight Anuerin (32)
because we normally do
it every year and it is
shops that you wouldn’t
normally go into.”
“We have been for the last
Chimere Cisse (29) couple of years so that’s
why we made a plan to
come tonight as well. It is
more to look around than
“The energy is great. It’s a actually buy anything.”
fun night. Everyone is out
Helen (25)
on the street partying,”
Bianca (24)
“I’m from America and
Fashion’s Night Out is a
really big deal over there,

What it is advertised on TV. So
when they said they were
having it in London, I knew

shoppers said: I would be here.”
Annie (19), Taylor (18), Amanda (19)


DESIGNER /
LUXURY

Word On
The Street
“I’ve just come out of Mulberry.
It is one to look forward to
because the guestlist has a
lot of celebrities from
the UK and US.”

MULBERRY
The quintessentially British lifestyle brand
Mulberry has become one of the most prevailing
brands of the last decade. Established in Why We Like It
Somerset, the designs were originally inspired by
outdoor pursuits such as hunting and fishing, as Official: So often headline sponsors play second fiddle
well as often being the accessories of these sports. to other brands - e.g. Adidas and Nike. However, by
The brand has become renowned for the highest partnering with Vogue to launch proceedings, Mulberry
quality materials and the finest craftsmanship was the one event everyone knew about and wanted to
and much like Barbour, people have embraced get into.
the brand’s heritage appeal. The brand’s dynamic
collections and significant relationships with Fame: Hats off to Mulberry, Fashion’s Night Out
celebrities have propelled Mulberry to the higher has the great and the good from music, film, television
echelons of the fashion industry. and of course fashion. Competition is fierce and no one
pulled
The brand shows its character through these celebrity in as many stars as them and that was reflected in
relationships and specifically aligns itself with names the coverage.
that they feel represent that Mulberry aesthetic. Alexa
Chung has championed Mulberry for many years, so
much so that they honoured her by naming a bag after From The Brand
her. More recently they have launched the Del Ray,
in recognition of popular model and singer Lana Del “Since Vogue launched this event in 2009 we’ve been
Ray. The attendance of such celebrities at Mulberry’s a partner of it, both in the UK and the US and also
Fashion’s Night Out throughout the last couple of years in Paris and Amsterdam. We think it is a fantastic
has caused much hype around the brand, none more so initiative to re-energise consumers to come out and
than this year. spend and shop, I think it was a really great initiative
post the recession and I think they have really managed
This year saw Mulberry team up with Vogue to launch to excite the consumer again and that’s something we
Fashion’s Night Out with an official party, hosted by really believe in. Fundamentally, we are luxury brand
Vogue’s Editor Alexandra Shulman. Filled with a mass but we have a retail store that we need to get consumers
of celebrities and designers, vast crowds gathered into. This year, being asked to be the host of the event
outside of the store to get a glance and extensive queues was absolutely spectacular and we’re really proud to be
developed to get in store, it was the most sought after part of it again.”
event of the night. Mulberry continues to establish itself
as the brand that everyone wants a piece of. Mulberry – Marketing Manager


DESIGNER /
LUXURY

Word On
The Street
“The atmosphere is amazing.
MTV and Armani!
It works!”

EMPORIO
ARMANI
As the younger division of the Armani fashion
house, Emporio Armani has always been out to
prove that it is something different to its sister
brand Georgio. Whereas Georgio Armani teamed
up with Vogue in 2009 to kick off the night’s
festivities with an ultra stylish cocktail party,
Emporio has taken a different approach.

Last year Emporio teamed up with record label EMI
to host a gig with some of their hottest new acts such
as Emeli Sande, The Good Natured and Baxter Dury.
This followed the success of their Summer Garden Live
project, a series of music events held at the in-store
‘Secret Garden’, in partnership with other music labels
such as Sony, Polydor & Island Records.

This year, Emporio Armani continued to develop this Why We Like It
relationship with music by using Fashion’s Night Out to
launch ‘Emporio Armani Diamonds’, a new partnership Springboard: What better way to announce and
with MTV’s ‘Brand New For 2013’. launch a new initiative than to a large, consumer base
of over 50,000 people? Not to mention creating one of the
The prestigious music programme has previously helped hottest tickets in town.
to launch the careers of Tinie Tempah and Lana Del
Ray. MTV again curated another very credible line-up Brand: Eschewing the fashion world’s obsession
including live performances from Labrinth and Jessie with the latest trend, Emporio Armani unlined their
Ware, to the delight of the hip, young, music crowd commitment to building their credibility in the
in attendance. music space.


DESIGNER /
LUXURY

Word On
The Street
“Everywhere we have been
tonight I have been hearing
about Louis Vuitton, it’s just
great and a little mad.
I love it”

LOUIS
VUITTON
Louis Vuitton has been named as the world’s
most valuable luxury brand for seven consecutive
years. Established in France in 1854 it has always
had an affinity with Japan - its iconic logo was
inspired by Japanese symbols, (reportedly a big
trend in the late Victorian era), and its first stores
opened in Tokyo and Osaka. It is fitting that in
recent years it has collaborated with several
modern masters of Japanese art, innovation
and design.

The brand has a long-standing relationship with art
and is always on the look out for collaborations that
give their very traditional bags a radical new twist.
The Bond Street store has even been described as an
“art gallery” itself, containing the works of Damien
Hirst, Gilbert & George and Jeff Koons. It has been a
dedicated sponsor to many major exhibitions across the
world and Fashion’s Night Out has provided another
opportunity to highlight this position to the industry.

This year, Fashion’s Night Out was a celebration of Why We Like It
Louis Vuitton’s latest collaboration with the iconic
Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Shoppers were engaged Commitment: Not just a launch or a special offer,
and enraptured with the eccentricity and personality Louis Vuitton went all the way with a full store take
of Kusama. A live mannequin was put in the window over, taking their impact to the next level.
display for part of the evening. In-store shoppers
were invited to style themselves with some of her Brand: Like Emporio Armani, Louis Vuitton used
most distinctive props; have their picture taken by a Fashion’s Night Out as a brand development platform
professional photographer; explore a full branded pop-up rather than a seasonal/tactical opportunity, by asserting
shop and all while enjoying a taste of Japanese drinks. their connection to art.


MY
THOUGHTS

Nicola Rutledge:
Communications
Partner
Media owned events are notoriously difficult to
gain press coverage on in other titles. This year’s
Fashion’s Night Out was still understandably
something not to be widely covered by the However, the biggest PR win of the event is from a
consumer fashion titles, however, thanks to the reputation management perspective. For Vogue, the
wide variety of newsworthy celebrities, the event event allows them to further reinforce their fashion
successfully gained press coverage in a number of credentials with an exclusive association with the
national UK titles. capital’s retail district and the full cross-section of high-
end and mainstream fashion brands.
The likes of Daisy Lowe, Cheryl Cole, Kelly Brook, Pixie
Geldof, Yasmin Le Bon, Bip Ling, the Made in Chelsea For the multitude of fashion brands and retailers
cast, Labrinth and Wretch 32 were all in attendance involved, it is a mutually beneficial association with
at various store parties and led to a number of picture- Vogue. For a high-end brand it acts to underline their
led stories being covered by the likes of Daily Mail, fashion credentials and deepen their engagement with
Huffington Post, The Sun, The Daily Star and Sunday their customers, while for a mainstream brand it can
Mirror. help leverage style kudos in the eyes of their consumers.

The night provided the perfect platform for style and It provides all retailers involved with the ideal
fashion bloggers to gain a wealth of content from street opportunity for not only key seasonal promotion
style photos to store showcases. All of the main fashion but also providing the perfect platform for brand
editors of the nationals and consumer titles were in building activity – the chance to showcase their brand
attendance, particularly to observe how certain stores personality and values to a captivated target audience.
were showcasing their brand and collections. Of course how much they decide to capitalise on the
opportunity depends on the individual retailers.
The majority of previews and pre-promotion was
through Vogue, Vogue.com and in-store. London-based Fashion’s Night Out enables fashion retailers to
media such as Evening Standard, Time Out and The successfully reach and engage style conscious females.
Londonist all provided previews. As did The Daily Mail, And with more brands from outside the world of fashion
which created a FEMAIL guide to the event, outlining getting involved (music and mobile for example), I
key stores and after-parties for their female readership expect to see more and more brands jump aboard
to look out for on the night. Fashion’s Night Out next year.


HERITAGE

Word On
The Street
“Scarves are something that
everybody wears but nobody
knows how to style for everyday,
so they taught us how to do it,
which was amazing. We learned
how to incorporate their product
into our day-to-day.”

HERMES
Established in the 1950s, Hermes is a brand that
oozes heritage and finesse. An elegant lifestyle
brand built around Parisian style, delicate fabrics
and enchanting designs, it is best known for its
beautiful scarves. Like so many other heritage
brands, Hermes, are in the process of increasing
their relevancy to a younger generation.
Why We Like It
Fashion’s Night Out provided the perfect platform for
the brand to attract and engage a younger audience. Entry Level: Building their activity around an
Last year was the first time Hermes had participated entry point product was a bold and very smart move
at Fashion’s Night Out, hosting a bangle bowling game that enabled Hermes to attract a whole new generation
in a branded horsebox. This year a stage was placed to the brand.
outside the store on Bond Street making a statement
of fun, energy and participation for all to see. 1950s Product Integration: Dancers performed with the
dance classes, performances and a DJ, ensured Hermes headscarf, firmly placing the product front and centre,
had undoubtedly the biggest presence on the busy as well as matching their window displays and staff
pedestrianised road and was one of the most talked dress to the activity.
about brands of the night.

Through in-store scarf styling classes the brand From The Brand
educated young customers and changed perceptions
about wearing scarves. The product was at the heart “It’s for people who love fashion and are really interested
of every aspect of their offering from window displays in fashion. They can come down and have an experience
to dancers skirts made from Hermes scarves and a with Hermes that perhaps they don’t have on a day-
specially choreographed dance routine performed using to-day level. They may also think that Hermes is very
the scarves. classical whereas inside the company we know that
our spirit is very young and creative so this gives us an
The Hermes team even got into the swing of things, opportunity to express that to a younger audience who
all styled in 1950s wear, helping to re-enforce and can start having a relationship with Hermes.”
introduced the often-overlooked personality of the
brand to consumers. Hermes - Communications Director


HERITAGE

Word On
The Street
“What else can I say?
It has just been
so much fun.”

THE
BURLINGTON
ARCADE Why We Like It
Audience: Working with cult East London collective,
A place where old and new worlds meet, the The Last Tuesday Society, ensured that a young, hip
Burlington Arcade offers an ornate and historic crowd made the effort to walk past Bond Street and
shopping destination. As one the world’s first Piccadilly to explore stores not normally on their radar.
shopping arcades, its heritage is personified by
the Burlington Arcade Beadles - guards who Experience: A genuine festival experience that
patrol the arcade dressed head-to-toe in the immersed and entertained in equal measure. With a
most traditional of outfits. You may ask how this thematic that felt true to heritage of the surrounding
translates into to one of the glitziest nights on the but offered an exciting twist and plenty of ammunition
British fashion calendar, well rather successfully for Facebook shares and champagne fuelled
it would seem. conversations.

With the presence of designer brands throughout the
arcade, this year a combined effort to do something From The Brand
unique brought to fruition a collaboration with The
Last Tuesday Society. Known for their eccentricity and “It’s a great opportunity to expose your brand to a wider/
exploration of the esoteric, literary and art, they are younger fashion conscious audience – which is part of
renowned for their extravagant and decadent events – our current brand strategy. This event is now recognised
and even popped up to host a midnight masked ball at on the national/international annual calendar and
our very own multi-arts festival, Wilderness. we saw a great influx of overseas visitors too, which
drove good sales on the evening. Whilst heritage is
The “Couture Carnival” was brought to life with fundamental – its important to show that we are also
marching bands, acrobats, cabaret artists, live snakes evolving – not only with our new store offering, but
and puppet shows. A chocolate fountain flowed, popcorn also with our on-site activity – being connected to arts,
popped and candy-floss was spun, giving the Arcade a fashion, culture is the way to show that we are leading,
festival vibe. It was an exhibition that exposed the true not following.”
character of the sometimes seemingly ‘sedate’ shopping
Arcade, which was woken up and turned on its head. Burlington Arcade – Retail Marketing Manager


HERITAGE

Word On
The Street
BOUCHERON “The last thing I thought
For over 150 years, Parisian brand, Boucheron has I would be taking home tonight
been making some of the finest jewellery in the is a caricature of myself
world, taking inspiration from the contemporary but it is going straight up
movements of the time across art, fashion and
culture. The brand has consistently developed
on my wall.”
products that innovate and push the jewellery
industry forward.

Last year’s Fashion’s Night Out endeared the brand to
all in attendance with a children’s choir singing outside
the store and this year Boucheron continued to radiate
with warm charm. Perhaps not language you would
associate with a Bond Street jeweller.

The brand reflected on its French roots, bringing a taste
of Parisian street culture to Bond Street. Artists dressed
in berets drew characterful portraits of consumers on Why We Like It
the template of a Vogue front cover, while listening to
some cheery French music being played on an accordion. Playful: A brand that doesn’t take itself too
seriously, breaking with the stuffy, old image of
As many of the designer Bond Street jewellers dismissed Bond Street jewellers.
the chance to take part in the event, Boucheron used
the opportunity to give something back to consumers. Individual: Photobooths and curated photography
Without doubt very few of the people who received a seemed to be the activity de jour at Fashion’s Night
portrait could afford to purchase the bespoke jewellery Out, but it was great to see a brand thinking a bit more
on offer but who knows, one day when they do, the creatively to offer consumers something truly unique
brand they will think of is Boucheron. and memorable to take home.


MY
THOUGHTS

Jono Marcus:
Digital Partner
Exploring the clouds of social media Social media feeds were even easer to keep updated
conversation about Fashion’s Night Out is a this year, as Fashion’s Night Out had a mobile app that
smart way to find out which brands have really integrated to store profiles, social media and Google
been able to capitalise on the opportunity. Some Maps to help revelers navigate the 400 stores involved
of them are a little unexpected, for example if and post updates quickly.
your job were to promote Covent Garden and
Westfield to the world you’d be pretty pleased As for individual brands, Liberty, Jaeger and ghd had
about the number of bloggers around the world social media successfully built into their campaigns
talking about this as a shopping location, ahead but New York was way ahead. Fashion Night in New
of any brands involved. York saw brand Bergdorf Goodman working directly
in collaboration with Tumblr, a photo based app-
The fashion brand that dominated online conversation led scavenger hunt through the event from brand
and the only one to achieve any real cut-through around Downtown Seattle; and instagram photos with model
the initiative, was Mulberry. They benefited from visits from Juicy Couture. All this (and the higher mobile
from highly photographable models and celebrities to social media usage in New York compared to London)
the store. The store experience was being hosted by meant online engagement, the online brand footprint of
Alex Shulman, Editor in chief of Vogue and Emma Hill, the event and impact for the individual biggest brands
Creative Director at Mulberry. involved, was over 500% more powerful the other side of
the pond.
A simple hashtag for conversation around ‘Fashion’s
Night Out’ (#VFNO) and tweets - from the likes of So as far as digital engagement is concerned for brands
Roberto Cavalli, the editor of ohmyprada.com, Lipsy, involved in Fashion’s Night Out London 2012, the report
Lulu Guinness, Ted Baker, American Express and John is good, but could be far, far better, with a little more
Lewis - ensured it trended in the UK on the night. inventiveness and little more investment.


RETAILERS

Word On
The Street
“We’re going to stay at Liberty
now, this seems to be the place
where everything is happening.
It’s the best place
we’ve been”

LIBERTY
Liberty is synonymous with the best of British
design, with an aesthetic that has often been
defined by its iconic prints. In recent years it
has continued to make itself relevant through
collaborations with Nike and Kate Moss, proving
that they still have their finger on the pulse.

Liberty have never lost sight of their heritage and have
used Fashion’s Night Out in the past to demonstrate
their eccentric character and sense of humour, as
well as showcasing their prestigious design collection.
Themes have set the tone and in the last few years have
seen them host Hawaiian parties and the imaginative
“Museum of Everything”.

This year the event had a Victorian Fun Fair theme in
which many of their design partners got involved, from
photobooths to themed cocktails. In-store appearances Why We Like It
from top designers have always been a guaranteed at
Liberty, last year saw Manolo Blahnik visit the store, Money Can’t Buy: A true fashion lovers dream,
and this year it was the turn of popular designers Liberty was able to offer customers money can’t buy
Jonathan Saunders, Roksanda Illincic and Richard opportunities to meet and interact with some of the
Nicoll. hottest designers in London. Needless to say fans lapped
it up all night long.
Saunders ran a photobooth (#showusyoursaunders),
giving customers the opportunity to be personally styled Space: Liberty is blessed with one of the most iconic
by their idol whereas Nicoll and Illincic demonstrated shopping locations in the world and they really made
the craftsmanship behind their luxurious products the space count. At times it felt as if Liberty had held
with a live mannequin display and signed hand drawn their own mini-fashion festival with several retailers
sketches of their A/W collection. vying for attention.


RETAILERS

Word On
The Street
“We heard that this was going to
be one of the parties of the night
and we weren’t disappointed.
The colours are amazing as are
the cocktails. People are even
getting Manga makeovers”

OPENING
CEREMONY
Having only recently launched its pop-up shop
in Covent Garden, Opening Ceremony can be
considered a ‘newbie’ to the London fashion
market. Based in New York, Opening Ceremony
is a ‘multi-faceted retail environment’ - put
simply, it does a little bit of everything. They
have shops where they sell designer clothes, they
have private label collections, studios and an
international creative forum. Opening Ceremony
have a host of collaborations under their belts
including Spike Jonze, Chloe Sevigny and Levi’s.
They are the super hip all-rounders in
the industry.

Opening Ceremony like to approach fashion holistically,
incorporating and merging cultures within design, as
well as encouraging creative thinking. As their first Why We Like It
big event, Fashion’s Night Out provided them with a
platform to introduce their brand and communicate Launch: Opening Ceremony created possibly the most
their principles. The in-store event looked to Korea for hyped event of the evening by being brave and acting
inspiration and consumers were able to engage their differently to anyone else. The K-Pop themed party
senses in some of its cultural offerings including Korean that dominated the street introduced the brand to a UK
BBQ, K-pop makeovers, cherry blossom trees and paper audience in style.
lanterns, as well as specially curated products.
Detail: Details turn a good idea into a great idea as
Opening Ceremony provided an immersive experience well as arming customers and bloggers with stories to
for consumers and shared their enthusiasm for culture tell and re-tell. Every inch of Opening Ceremony felt like
and fashion, encouraging people to consider new ideas a curated experience and they have reaped the rewards
and get involved in the world around them. of their passion and effort.


RETAILERS

Word On
The Street
“They’re not just having a sale
like most places, they had the
activity that you could
make your own scarf and
I thought that was
really interesting.”

ANTHROPOLOGIE
The American brand, owned by Urban Outfitters,
market a very specific and enviable lifestyle full
of individuality and the seemingly ornate. If you
asked people what they think of Anthropologie
they will swoon over the diverse patterns and
rustic design that can be found dominating
Pinterest pages. It is a brand with integrity that
focuses on the beautiful and the eclectic, a very
different offering from the young, trendy Urban
Outfitters.

Having only recently made the move from the US to
London it has undoubtedly made a mark with its huge
store in Regent Street. Following last year’s Fashion’s
Night Out which focused around an in-store pop-up
shop with Peekaboo Vintage, this year Anthropologie
focused on and engaged consumers with its own design
principles. It offered consumers an education in print
techniques and allowed active involvement in design. Why We Like It
Consumers were able to get involved in a scarf Get Involved: On a night created to celebrate the
workshop, that encouraged them to pop on an apron, designer, can there be a better piece of activity than
choose their favourite colours and used varied effects to enabling the audience to become one themselves?
design their own scarf, whilst listening to a live band.
Anthropologie were comfortable avoiding the glitz Giving Something Back: We love the mechanic that
and glamour often associated with the night, instead asked for a charity donation to Refuge to take home
focusing on exactly what their consumer will value most your scarf. A nice ethical touch to the evening, not to
- something individual to take home that demonstrates forget the official Vogue t-shirt, design by Jonathan
their creativity. Saunders - it sold out in just one hour.


MY
THOUGHTS

David Proud-
lock: Creative Fashion’s Night Out offers brands an edge over music

Partner festivals as everyone is, openly, there to engage with
brands, with the added bonus that they will remember
it the morning. Besides, where else can you reach this
Don’t be tricked into thinking that Fashion’s many young, female consumers?
Night Out is all about the shopping, in fact very
few of the people we met were there to buy due Unlike music festivals where brand exposure has
to the crowds. Many were there to browse and reached saturation point, Fashion’s Night Out is
get ideas before returning later to purchase. Most under exploited by brands and therefore offers a great
attended to soak up the atmosphere, enjoy the opportunity to stand out from the crowd, especially since
entertainment with friends and, of course, drink fashion brands have always been slightly behind the
as much free champagne as possible. In fact many curve in terms non-traditional marketing channels -
people we spoke to referred to the evening as a especially in social media.
‘carnival’ or ‘festival’.
This year saw the first sign of non-fashion brands
Undoubtedly Fashion’s Night Out offers a huge joining the party with brands like Samsung, creating a
opportunity for brands and not just fashion brands, with live music stage headlined by Wolf Gang, and Vodafone,
over 50,000 people packed onto the streets of central adding a mobile phone recharge tent and free nail bar
London, Fashion’s Night Out is officially now one of the whilst you waited.
UK’s largest festivals.
As Fashion’s Night grows, more and more brands will
Twice the size of Secret Garden Party and the same size get involved, just as they have in New York. The most
as Bestival, in our opinion Fashion’s Night Out London successful brands however, will be the ones to come up
is only going to grow in size to firmly establish itself on with original and highly relevant executions to suit
UK festival scene. the occasion.


HIGH
STREET

Word On
The Street
“Next year people might be
coming to Fashion’s
Night Out to see
my design.”

JAEGER
Jaeger is at the high-end of the high street,
as an established British brand they have Why We Like It
always concentrated on quality, chic design and
distinguishing themselves with their simplistic The Idea: A great idea that not only encouraged
colour palette. The brand has become associated people to hang around the Jaeger store and enjoy a free
with a mature consumer despite recent attempts drink, the design competition also created a lot of buzz
to launch more modern collections. Fashion’s pre, during and post the night.
Night Out gives this brand an opportunity to
reach out to new customers. Commitment: It would have been so easy to ruin this
idea by limiting it to the night or a window display.
Having been involved in Fashion’s Night Out from 2009, Credit to Jaeger for having the guts to include the
they have shown their dedication to Vogue’s project. The winning design in the S/S 13 collection.
brand has evolved in its approach to Fashion’s Night
Out, more recently favouring engaging creative projects,
which is clearly something that they feel fits the brand. From The Brand
Last year saw consumers designing their own handbags
with Pantone pens and this year they ran a t-shirt “Fashion’s Night Out is a great celebration of shopping,
design competition, showing further commitment to which is why we like to get involved. It’s not necessarily
customers, by putting the winning design (chosen on about discounts, it’s about doing something innovative,
Facebook) into production for the S/S 13 collection. doing something fun in store. It’s really good for us as
Jaeger, we have quite a lot of older customers and it
Embracing the creativity of shoppers and upping gets the younger Vogue reader in as well and introduces
the tempo of the store with a DJ in the window, a them to the brand. We’re always really happy to be
manicurist on the top floor and G&Ts provided by local involved and have the Vogue name in our windows.”
bar Sketch, the brand tried and succeeded in reaching a
new generation of shoppers. Jaeger – Marketing Manager


HIGH
STREET

Word On
The Street
“I heard there was free sushi at
Beyond Retro so that was a big
draw I’m not going to lie and
I’m wearing Japanese fashion
so I thought it would be a good
place to go.”

BEYOND
RETRO
Beyond Retro opened on Brick Lane at the start
of the area’s vintage revolution, demonstrating Why We Like It
their ability to predict trends. Now with a
collection of shops around London and abroad Collection: Creating a collection for the evening
they are very much established as the people in transformed Beyond Retro from one-off purchases and
the know. From the outside they are a store that accessories into a genuine fashion brand that is clearly
celebrates originality and creativity through its ahead of the curve of the K & J Pop trend alongside
broad selection of vintage wear, whilst behind the Opening Ceremony.
scenes they are a fountain of knowledge when it
comes to forecasting fashion’s next movements. Fun: Fun and fashion are not two words you often
see together but we loved Beyond Retro pricking the
Last year at Fashion’s Night Out they chose to share pomposity of high-end fashion with an evening all out
some of this knowledge and connections by hosting fun and a tongue in cheek confidence that felt very on
three of London’s top stylists. They shared their brand. We look forward to next year.
experience by styling the models in vintage as well as
encouraging customers to take more risks with fashion.
This year they continued to share their secrets by From The Brand
allowing consumers a peak at their extensive archive
around their theme of the moment, Rainbow Grunge. “We’re not just an a-typical vintage store, we pick up
Eastern fashion was the flavor of the night with the pieces on a trend-led basis and obviously catwalks and
store transformed into a Harajuku dream world - bright London Fashion week is something we’ve always been
colours, vintage cartoons and brave combinations. happy to be a part of. The benefits for us are to say to
people you know you that you don’t need to necessarily
The daring Tokyo inspired collection demonstrated, once go to Topshop on the high street to get the most up to
again, that this is a label that enjoy taking risks and date trends, it’s more about recycling and reusing for us
inspire consumers to think differently about fashion. and it’s a good opportunity for us to meet those kind of
This was nicely topped off with sushi, Japanese inspired people half-way and get them involved in our store.”
drinks and a karaoke booth. Beyond Retro do not do
things by half. Beyond Retro – Store Manager


HIGH
STREET

Word On
The Street
“I have just been getting
as many freebies
as possible.”

TOPSHOP
Topshop is the epitome of the British high
street, with over 300 stores around the UK
(440 worldwide), it holds its own as a style-led
shopping destination for young men and women.
The Oxford Street store in itself has become
a London tourist destination and the world’s
largest fashion store, entertaining a mighty 30,000
visitors a day. Topshop takes its inspiration from
the catwalks and translates them into accessible
and affordable collections for every day women.
It reigns high above its British competitors in
variety and could be confidently labeled the
leader of the high street pack.

In terms of Fashion’s Night Out, Topshop tends to
keep it simple, mainly because they have less to prove
than other high-end brands to high street consumers
- they are most likely already holding a place in their
wardrobe. Last year they took video clips of consumers Why We Like It
having a “fashion moment”, which were projected onto
a video grid in-store, along with stylists giving shoppers Spot On: Topshop know who they are and what their
advice and sharing the latest hero products. This year audience is looking for. Topshop didn’t mess with a
saw them host a party of makeovers and a special winning formula but merely exploited their position as
performance in the window by London singer Delilah. destination fashion.

For Topshop who has sweets, beauticians and personal Credible: The days of Kate Moss are gone and
stylists built into its stores all year round, they simply working with credible up-and-coming musicians like
maximize on this for Fashion’s Night Out. Once again Delilah rather than big name performers, shows yet
proving to the consumers that they know what they like again why Topshop stay at the top. They stay in touch
and a singer in the window is just the icing on the cake. with and lead the trends of the day.


MY
THOUGHTS

Will Parkinson:
Production
Partner
Events are all about creating memorable and
highly engaging experiences for consumers, the
brands that really caught my eye at Fashion’s Hermes, Opening Ceremony and Burlington Arcade
Night Out were those who broke free of the were able to pull in and introduce themselves to a
confines of their stores and took to the streets whole new audience by dominating the pathways.
of London. Without doing so people would have walked straight
past the stores either unfamiliar or uninterested in the
Stores have never been great event spaces in my brands’ offering.
opinion, as they are simply not fit for purpose. They are
inflexible, low capacity, with limited floor space and Non-fashion brands such as Samsung and Vodafone
have poor access for large groups, not to mention all ‘hijacked’ the event, understanding that no one want to
the stock. With over 50,000 people and just 400 stores visit a mobile phone shop on Fashion Night’s Out.
the result is often a weak brand experience and often
complete rejection as people avoid the crush. Finally, ghd, with no high street retail presence
launched their socially powered, mobile ghd Air
Several people I spoke to were less than happy having Boutique in a converted airstream trailer to engage
stood in a huge queue only to leave soon after they their Facebook community as well as the thousands
entered, as they were unable to move once they of passersby.
were inside.
These activities are some of the most talked about
The stand out experiences of the night for me all took activations of the night, perhaps because more people
place outside of the store and brands used the space for are able to see and engage with them. My advice, get on
different purposes. the street to get the most of Fashion’s Night Out.


About Inkling
Inkling is a creative marketing agency that specialises
in idea generation, research and brand strategy, social
media, digital production, PR, experiential, event
production and content creation.

If you would like to talk to us about how we can help you
please call Nicola, Jono, Will or David on 0207 697 9587
or email partners@thisisinkling.com

www.thisisinkling.com

Fashion's Night Out 2012

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