Stalking Anna Wintour: A Fashion's Night Out Scrapbook
Fashion's Night Out, Anna Wintour's faux charity event to make people shop, is well underway. What's Anna up to? We followed her to the Macy's in Queens to find out. Too bad we were the only ones there for her.
We took the V (for Vogue) train all the way out to Queen's Center in Rego Park, Queens to find the queen of the fashion world. The Mall itself looks like any other mall in any city in America, and the Macy's is like any other Macy's.
When we arrived, it appeared totally empty, a security guard pointed us toward the Fashion's Night Out event, and that's where all the people were clustered.
We talked to Keyana, one of the girls who works in the store. She said that on a normal Thursday, the place is packed with shoppers. Tonight, there was no one there but the melee surrounding the upcoming event. So, there are fewer people shopping than usual? "Yeah," Keyana said. Did she know what all this was about? "There are some people coming, but I don't know who." Who do you want to come. "Tommy Hilfiger or Kimora Lee Simmons. I'd want to see them."
On the other side of the stage was the line for the fifty people who got tickets to have their Fashion's Night Out T-Shirt signed by Wintour and Michael Kors, who was also in attendance. A group of nice ladies in line said they got there at 4 pm, an hour before the event started, and got tickets no problem. They had come up from south Jersey just for the event. "We wanna see Michael Kors. We're big fans," one said. They each bought a T-shirt, and one woman spent $80, so Anna's scheme is working—a little.
Nearby, Rose wasn't lucky enough to get in line. Why was she there. "I love Project Runway. I just want to see Michael Kors," she said. "Some Anna woman is going to be here too, but I don't know who she is. Some magazine woman. I know who Nina Garcia is though."
The CEO of Macy's comes out and introduces Kors and Kate Hudson. Wait, no Anna? The pair introduce the cast from Hair who do a few numbers. Then Mayor Bloomberg comes on the stage and introduces Wintour and Diane von Furstenberg. Bloomberg says when Wintour and DVF first pitched him the idea was crazy, but no one says, "No" to these two women. How true.
Wintour and Kors come sit at a table and sign autographs for the 50 people in line. Wintour is uncharacteristically all smiles and greats each person very pleasantly. We're just trying to get a good photo. There is a huge rush to get pictures of the two at the table.
While standing there a nice older Latina asks me to take a picture with her cell phone. I kindly oblige. I hand her back her phone and she says, "Mayor Bloomberg?" No, he left. "Oh, who is it?" Anna Wintour. "Not Bloomberg?" Sorry.
Suddenly a woman starts screaming something about Anna Wintour being the enemy because she wears fur and how Vogue should be ashamed of itself. Security quickly sees her out. We can't see Anna's face at this point, but she appears unfazed.
After about 20 minutes it's time for the bob to leave, and we snap a pic of it from behind. "Who was that?" an older lady nearby asks. "She's the head of Vogue," her friend replies. Did the pair enjoy the event? "It was fun, but it was so short." Are you going to stay and shop? "Not here. We're going to JCPenney."
Anna was off to Bloomingdale's on Lexington Avenue, and we followed. This time, we were behind the press line, waiting with the rest of the paparazzi and a swarm of people who were there to see Gwen Stefani. It appears that Anna was a last minute addition to the roster. When the PR girl comes out and tells the paps that Gwen and Anna will be coming out, they get all upset. Apparently, a photo of Gwen and Anna is worth way less than one of Gwen alone.
One shooter asks his friend, "What's happening?" "Anna Wintour is coming out with Gwen." "Who's that?" "She's the real life Devil Wears Prada."
The pair come out and everyone takes their pictures. After a minute, Anna pushes Stefani into the spotlight and leaves with a quick "Goodbye, Gwen." Stefani follows her. The photogs are all in a tizzy because they didn't get their solo Gwen shots. After a couple minutes, Stefani comes back and the flashbulbs start going off and everyone is shouting orders for poses.
We think it's rude that on Anna's special night, everyone would rather see some pop star turned designer. We leave in protest, happy with our blurry pictures and knowing that we got close to our obsession twice in one day.