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.
For a list of participants and more on Fashion’s Night Out, see .
