Footwear Plus Shoesday Tuesdays: The Best of Fashion’s Night Out

The Big Apple is currently abuzz with Fashion Week excitement, which was all kicked off last Friday with a frenzy of champagne-filled Fashion’s Night Out events. For the second year, New York-based footwear retailers, designers and wholesalers welcomed shoppers, celebrities and fashion insiders for an evening of entertainment, glamorous surprises and—most importantly—some serious shoe shopping. Here are some of the night’s highlights. —Angela Velasquez

Payless ShoeSource guest designers Christian Siriano, Lela Rose, Patricia Fields and Isabel Toledo kicked off the evening with a meet-and-greet at the chain’s Lexington Avenue location. Attendees posed for photos with the designers, shopped the chain’s fall collections and hopped onboard a Payless-sponsored double-decker bus to check out other FNO events.

Across the street at Bloomingdale’s, shoppers toasted to good fashion, good food and good sportsmanship. Designers Billy Reid, John Varvatos, Lela Rose and Simon Spurr made appearances while Michael Kors signed t-shirts.

Iron Chef Morimoto gave a cooking demo to fashionistas with an appetite for something other than shoes. Keds Collective artists Gay W. Lam and Jordan Roland were also on hand to personalize the brand’s signature white Champions lace-ups—kicks that could be tested out at the designers vs. VIPs ping pong tournament held on the men’s floor.

Champagne flowed at Jimmy Choo on Madison Avenue, where visitors got a first peek of the Jimmy Choo & Ugg Australia boot collaboration. Shoppers could pre-order the boots for one night only before the capsule collection’s official launch on Oct. 21. The line includes mixes of leopard and zebra prints, suede fringe and a bevy of stud embellishment.

Singer Kelly Rowland, actress Michelle Trachtenberg and TV personalities Wendy Williams and Whitney Port strutted down the red carpet at Giuseppe Zanotti’s flagship store on Madison Avenue. The designer unveiled his fall/winter collection, personalized FNO t-shirts and encouraged well-heeled visitors to tear up the store’s impromptu dance floor.

Songstress Joss Stone celebrated her Nine West Vintage America Collection design collaboration with an in-store performance at the brand’s midtown flagship. Stone performed her new song “Back In Style,” written exclusively for the launch, and shoppers had a chance to purchase a pair of the limited-edition styles. A portion of the collection’s proceeds will be donated to Soles4Souls.