Remember that time you hung out with Marc Jacobs, sipped free champagne, and suddenly realized you had a million dollars to spend on designer clothes despite years of nationwide recession? No? Well, you might not be the only one, because Fashion's Night Out — the industry's really, really expensive version of a street festival — is going on hiatus in NYC this year, WWD reports.
Though its original purpose was to drive sales and increase exposure when the economy was in dire straits back in 2009, the question of whether or not anyone's actually making money during Fashion's Night Out is always under debate. Lately, designers are spending so much money hosting the events (an expense which often falls within days of spring shows and presentations) that sponsors Vogue, the CFDA, and NYC & Co. have decided to call it quits, at least for now, letting designers focus on the stuff that really matters rather than blow it all on one big party that's not even generating much income.
Never one to miss out on the fun, Bloomberg released the following statement: “Fashion’s Night Out brought great energy, optimism and enthusiasm to the city’s retailers, who make up a thriving part of our economy. We can always count on fashion industry leaders to use their creativity and savvy to benefit New York City — whether they are helping us recover from a national recession, a natural disaster, or whatever the next challenge may be." Though the event is still taking place in other cities across the world, and may come back to NYC in the future, it sounds like it grew so fast, the people in charge lost control of the reins a bit. Considering we never liked it that much anyways, we're not devastated — what about you?
Photo: Craig McDean/courtesy of Condé Nast.