Anna Wintour, American Vogue
When I first mentioned Fashion’s Night Out to my friend Vera Wang, a fashion designer here in New York, she gave me a quick double take. While her business, like everyone else’s, was having to ride out the recession — Vera always jokes that she has this knack for opening a store just before some new global cataclysm hits — it had never crossed her mind, not once, to stop shopping. “Anna,” she said, laughing, “I did shop, I do shop, and I will continue to shop!” For Vera, hitting the stores is about more than an act of acquisition. It’s one of self-invention and self-empowerment, no matter how small and inexpensive her purchase might be. It's Vera’s attitude that I’ll keep in mind when I do the rounds on September 10.

I’m going from Macy’s in Queens to Manhattan, where I’ll drop by Ralph Lauren, the Oscar de la Renta store — Oscar promises to sing! — then Intermix to see Sienna Miller, and on to Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, Dior, Saks Fifth Avenue (where there will be a William Rast pop-up shop), and Sean John, finishing up at the Meatpacking block party hosted by Theory and Diane von Furstenberg.

What am I looking to buy? Something in red, some new boots, and some kind of savage fur (that’s American Vogue shorthand, so you know, for a rough, shaggy stole or collar of some kind).

It’s not a lot, but isn’t that the whole point of shopping these days (and probably should always have been)?
You don’t need much, just whatever you’ll love and that will really mean something to you.

Source: Times UK

So how did it do? The movie, which aired on six screens, took in a total weekend gross of $240,078, for an average of $40,013 per screen, according to figures released Sunday afternoon by the film’s distributor, Roadside Attractions.

And if the hype and the promise of the film’s access to the inner circle weren’t enough to lure the fashion curious to the six theaters in Manhattan where it was playing, there were the mostly favorable reviews. New York magazine’s David Edelstein called it a “guilty pleasure”; Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman gave the documentary an “A,” and the New York Daily News rated the movie, directed by R.J. Cutler, three-and-a-half out of five stars.

Though most reviewers lauded Vogue creative director Grace Coddington as the breakout star of the 88-minute film, Anna Wintour’s on-screen persona played less well in some circles. “In interviews with Cutler, Wintour is withholding and stand-offish, just as she is with her staff,” wrote Marshall Fine for The Huffington Post. “She’s a poor little rich girl swaddled in fur and iced to the bone,” wrote The New York Times’ Manohla Dargis. And Kyle Smith of The New York Post, who rated the movie three out of four stars, described Wintour with “fangy bangs that you could open an envelope on, her mirth-free smile, the Frisbee-sized shades that conceal her arctic skin crevasses but add to her polar froideur. Brrrr! I’m wearing a winter coat as I write.”

Nevertheless, some critics left wanting more. “Unfortunately for audiences, Ms. Wintour, perhaps mindful of her icy reputation, perhaps simply mindful of the cameras, is on her best behavior,” said Joanne Kaufman of The Wall Street Journal, who panned the film, calling it “listless” and “old news” since it’s about an issue of the magazine that came out two years ago.

The documentary opens nationwide on Sept. 11.

— Stephanie D. Smith

Vogue editor, Anna Wintour has been sought out by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg to help turn the declining retail sales back around:

CALLING ALL CUSTOMERS: Details of a far-reaching consumer initiative to take place this fall are expected to be unveiled sometime next week with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Vogue’s Anna Wintour, designers and retail executives providing a united front in an attempt to jump-start business. The initiative is believed to have the participation of top city retailers and will come at a time when stores have been hard-hit by recession. Vacant storefronts are cropping up, tourism is off and layoffs have plagued several industries, from publishing to Wall Street. Activities will likely include various special events, from personal appearances to extended shopping hours, to lure customers back into the stores.

Although I think its a great idea to consult the industry authority, and I can't wait to see what creative marketing Anna comes up with, I think that extending shopping hours is a failed idea waiting to happen. Accessibility to stores has never been the problem. Hello??? We can get to the store, we just aren't BUYING anything!!! Not to mention the increased overhead costs (read: more debt) that it would take to do so.

Source: WWD