Nicholas Kirkwood, Pierre Hardy & FNO (London, UK)

Even though I was in London during Fashion's Night Out, I only caught part of it (towards the beginning) as I had a dinner date with my better half to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary. I figured ditching him to hang with designers, models and socialites probably wouldn't be the nicest thing to do. Nevertheless, I did see a lot of FNO related stuff happening on the day - mainly in the stores - as they were preparing for the event.

One of the things I was most looking forward to seeing, was the launch of Nicholas Kirkwood's first ever official shop space in Rei Kawakubo's Dover Street Market. I've been waiting forever for this guy to get his own boutique, but I guess this is the next-best thing for now. DSM has always had the best selection of his shoes and I was slightly bummed I would be missing the actual FNO event where the man himself would not only be present (fortunately I've met him before at the Browns Shoes opening) but unveil his first ever flats. That didn't stop me from checking out his shop-in-shop though and despite the fact that it was smaller than expected, there was still plenty of shoe goodness to look at.

Nicholas Kirkwood @ DSM (top image: DSM).

DSM had some other special edition items for sale for the occasion, such as the Comme des Garçons 'Play' Converse sneakers and a DSM Swiss Army Knife, but if you're like me and a bit of a shoe addict, you'll probably want to head either to the second floor (where you'll find the general shoe area) or the third floor, which is where the Kirkwood selection can be found.

Some of the eye candy I spotted. Love those boots. Not sure about the furry things on the lower right.

While I was perusing this bit, and getting slightly distracted by the newly revamped Lanvin area next to it, I noticed two French gentlemen out of the corner of my eye, chatting with a member of staff who was showing them something. I didn't pay much attention, until I headed to an area displaying Pierre Hardy's newest FW09 shoe and handbag range. It was only when I was trying to check the price of a stunning gold heel and the two men came towards the area, I suddenly realized that one of the guys was Pierre Hardy himself.

Monsieur Pierre Hardy and an associate, critically eyeing their own display.

He seemed delighted someone was checking out his collection, though I'm sure his delight faded when I decided not to buy anything. He and his colleague went straight to work, which involved them standing there, looking at the display for one minute. Then Hardy would go over, move a few shoes around, go back to where he stood before and they'd assess the layout again. This went on for a while and was fascinating to watch. I couldn't resist snapping a pic, but decided to leave after a few minutes before I started looking suspicious. Hardy is a genius though... those who aren't familiar with his line might know him as Balenciaga's official shoe designer and of course more affordable versions of his shoes can now be found in a special collaboration with Gap.

A selection of the Pierre Hardy FW09 collection (images: Pierre Hardy).

Pop-up stores seemed to be all over London when I was there and most of them were of the 'here's a Vogue display' variety (i.e. Topshop, Mango etc.). H&M previewed the Jimmy Choo collection later that evening, but the high-street store that made the best effort to bring something new to the fashion world was probably Urban Outfitters, who unveiled a pop-up store for upcoming indie designer and London College of Fashion graduate Simon Preen (not related to the 'Preen' label). Most of his designs came in a monochrome palette and involved a lot of leather, lace, lycra, shoulder pads and leggings, i.e. goth meets 80s. The collection officially launched on Monday, so there's probably more to come.

Simon Preen @ Urban Outfitters. The 'garter' dress (lower left) was one of the key items.

And just some quick impressions of the Alexander McQueen flagship's store windows as inspired by the FW09 runway. I know some hated it, but I personally thought it was refreshing compared to all the 'safe' shows everyone else did. Yes, I'm very biased towards McQueen. He also designed two special egg chairs for FNO in the signature houndstooth motif.

Windows at Alexander McQueen and the special edition egg chairs. The zip at the top is embellished with skulls (of course).

Unfortunately my camera died by the time FNO actually went underway - check out the Vogue UK homepage for extensive coverage. Everyone from Claudia Schiffer to Burberry's Christopher Bailey to Alice Dellal were in attendance. Browns probably had the coolest event, with designers such as Henry Holland, Hussein Chalayan and Marios Schwab to name a few, working away in-store at the cashier, as personal stylists or as visual merchandisers. Like most cities, there were special 'limited edition' tees on sale. The UK ones, designed by Vogue fashion director Lucinda Chambers, were pretty snazzy and only cost £10 (with all proceeds going to charity). They were still available the next day in most high street stores, so it's worth checking in if you're still looking for one.

The FNO Vogue charity tee as sported by Sienna Miller (left) and in the Emporio Armani window (middle, lower right).

But my favorite special edition of the evening came from Marni. This collection wasn't exclusive to London, but I thought it was a cute idea: three dolls and two bags were designed to be sold that evening, along with customized versions of the Vogue tee.

Limited edition Marni dolls, totes and customized Vogue tees.

I've since read numerous reports about the NYC event, but if any of you have your own stories to tell - regardless of which city it was in, please let me know! I'd also be curious as to how successful this was. Minds are divided regarding the London one - some SA's said their sales tripled, while others (including those of established designer flagships) said they didn't sell anything. I guess it probably depended on who was in-store that night and what each shop organized. In general, I think it was probably still a great idea though.