>> How to be do Fashion's Night Out at two different cities happening at the same time? Why, have your mug plastered all over a window of a department store of course so that you're there in spirit, if not with physical presence. This is a little late but I'm mega proud of this Lane Crawford mini-takeover so I thought I'd backtrack and explain why it is I was there two weeks ago. Hong Kong had their first Fashion's Night Out, exclusively at Lane Crawford, the city's premier department store and whilst I couldn't be there in person because I was already in New York, I went over beforehand to style up a ton of mannequins so that the windows of the Lane Crawford Canton Road, IFC, Times Square and Beijing stores would have a bit of Style Bubble's imprint in the windows. A ton of the blog's images made up the backdrop along with illustrations of me by the talented Lena Ker. There was also a beauty window where the videos I did with Because magazine were used.
I'm a bit of a wannabe VM (visual merchandising) person given that I first got VM-happy at the tender age of 16 when I did a work experience stint at Habitat, using crockery, cushions and candles to make pretty displays. It's got to be said that it hardly feels like work when you're running around a supremely well-stocked department store like Lane Crawford, grabbing Givenchy, Lanvin and Stella McCartney off the racks. It's shopping without the post credit-card-glut guilt. Shamelessly I got a little giddy when customers passed by the mannequins and proceeded to want to buy things off the dummy, considering there are so many layers to decipher. It's also extremely useful to meticulously go through collections in the stores and get to know the product at hand. Now I keep getting flashes in my head of every single item from labels like Theory, Diane von Furstenberg and Thakoon. There are clearly too many pieces loaded up on these mannequins to list out individually but gold starred items include a bright neon orange leather jacket by Theory (which seems very un-Theory), Toga sweaters, a Middle Ages printed skirt from Carven, Opening Ceremony x Adidas clear jelly brogues, a Phillip Lim orange shearling collared jacket, a Kenzo waffle knit jumper, a Sacai scarf-print skirt and a Preen lace skirt. I also chose two bags by Proenza Schouler and Phillip Lim for a giveaway on Lane Crawford's Facebook page so congrats to whoever those lucky sods are...
FNO isn't FNO of course without a charity t-shirt and sadly there are always a mound of really ropey ones. Lane Crawford though has got the likes of Lanvin, Givenchy and Stella McCartney to do tees that are miles better than the norm.
