Announcing A New York Shopping Party

Announcing A New York Shopping Party
Mark your calendars. On September 10, the first night of Spring 2010 Fashion Week, stores across the five boroughs of New York (and around the world) will stay open until 11 p.m. and lure customers with designer, model, and celebrity appearances; fashion shows; and other unique happenings. Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans for the citywide initiative to jumpstart retail sales, which has been dubbed Fashion’s Night Out, at a press conference this afternoon with a who’s who of New York designers and retail heavyweights arrayed behind him. Vogue, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and NYC & Company, which is the city’s official marketing and tourism organization, are sponsoring the evening. “Even in good times, retail employees aren’t bringing home paychecks to support a middle-class standard of living,” said Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union president Stuart Appelbaum, who shared the dais with Bloomberg, Vera Wang, and Terry Lundgren of Macy’s, among others. “This initiative not only serves consumers, but helps provide a needed boost to New York’s retail industry at a time when it’s needed most.” New York City causes stand to benefit as well. Forty percent of the proceeds from a Fashion’s Night Out T-shirt that will be available in August will go to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, while donations of gently used and newly purchased clothes will go to HIV/AIDS charities.