Fashion's Night Out recap

by Jahna Peloquin
photos by Hina Khan, hinakhan.tumblr.com unless otherwise noted

Fashion's Night Out began last year when Anna Wintour and VOGUE decided to celebrate retail and fashion by encouraging shops to host special in-store events with extended hours, in effect kicking off New York Fashion Week with aplomb. Now, the event has spread to the rest of the globe with thousands of different stores participating - and Minneapolis jumped on for the ride with events at Neiman Marcus and the Galleria.

[Hina Khan, Aaron Dahl, and Jahna Peloquin; Photo via mnstyle.blogspot.com]

The Neiman Marcus event kicked off with a mini runway show and a fall trend report from our pal Mary O'Regan over at METRO Magazine. The MNfashion-sponsored sketch contest featured entries from some local notables, including three of our fave designers of the moment: Kerry Riley of Needle & Black, Danielle Everine, and Max Lohrbach.

[Sketch by Max Lohrbach]

[Sketch by Danielle Everine]

[Sketch by Kerry Riley/Needle & Black]

The winners were Victoria Brennan, Russell Bourrienne, Pamela Kirton, Carol Lee, Hilary Hubanks, and Leslie Randall. Victoria's entry received top honors, and deservedly so:

[Sketch by Victoria Brennan]

The crowd was a good mix of the typical Neiman's crowd - from fancily-dressed little old ladies who lunch to hip, urban gentleman - and a slightly more subversive, younger and less mainstream crowd that seemed to be exactly the type of group Fashion's Night Out is all about bringing in. Case in point: fine art/portrait photographer Benjamin Fredrickson, who showed up in this getup:


We loved Ben's "fall look": a mix of things he found on MCAD's free shelf and some high-fashion additions (a Versace sweater and a couple of designers t-shirts from ShopFatal).


The back view gives a nice glimpse of his Versace Versus sweater from the early '90s, with the tag still attached. The best part was how high bright, eclectic looked contrasted with the stark, modern simplicity of Neiman's surroundings.