Richard Nicholl

Central London is set to become a fashion wonderland tonight amidst a flurry of shopping bags and cocktails at Vogue’s Fashion’s Night Out.

Almost every department store and boutique is hosting a fabulous party to showcase their new Autumn collections, show some love to us loyal fashionistas and keep the fashion industry booming. There are so many exciting events, you’ll have to co-ordinate your plan of attack! Here is the Chérie City guide to the highlights…

London’s hottest young designers will be getting out their haberdashery kits at Harvey Nichols, where they will be customising Vogue Fashion’s Night Out t-shirts. It’s a rare opportunity to get a bespoke creation from the likes of Erdem, Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders, Markus Lupfer and Vogue’s Emma Elwick-Bates, at a snip of their usual prices.

There will also be Rough Trade DJs, an exclusive peek at Christopher Kane Jeans for J Brand, a pop-up Shu Uemura lash bar and a Harvey Nichols Photobooth.

Maison Louis Vuitton on New Bond Street will be hosting one of the most anticipated parties of the night, with model Alice Dellal treating guests to an exclusive 2 hour DJ set. There will also be two photo booths in which guests can strike some Vogue poses with bespoke props created especially for the event out of Vogue magazines by designer Fiona Leahy.

Liberty of London will be a hub of fashion frolics with the grand opening of the Manolo Blahnik ‘store-in-store’, The World of Manolo. At 6.30pm, Manolo and close friend Yasmin Le Bon will officially open the doors to a room full of shoes, candles, accessories, stationery and bow ties designed by Manolo exclusive to Liberty.

On the ground floor, Vogue’s Emma Elwick-Bates will be demonstrating how to perfect the art of tie a scarf. There will also be a Liberty photo booth, a free expert lash application with every purchase of Shu Uemura lashes and a competition to win the entire contents of Liberty’s designer goodies-laden window display.

Richard Nicholl will be showing off his Autumn/Winter 10-11 collection live with the gorgeous Josephine de la Baume alongside his J Brand 5×5 jeans. Buy a pair of the limited edition jeans and Richard will treat you to a pair of tickets from Frieze Art Fair. All this will set to a glorious Motown and Soul soundtrack by DJs Richard Sloan and Farrah.

Just a stone throw away from the Liberty festivities, up-and-coming designer Holly Fulton will be presenting her latest catwalk looks at Swarovksi Crystallized from 6-9pm. Meet Holly and marvel at her stunning, oversized geometric neck candy.

Fall down the rabbit hole at Christian Louboutin where the shoe emporium will be transformed into a wonderland with a Mad Christian Louboutin tea party. NARS will be on hand for consultations on finding the perfect red lippy and there will be goodie bags and a DJ set courtesy of London Guns.

Charlotte Olympia’s Mayfair store will be open for POP Bakery treats, nails by WAH Nails, champagne and canapes. There will also be a personal appearance from Charlotte herself and a chance to preview the new Fall 2010 Collection.

Finish off your shopping evening at Cherie City’s favourite haunt, Cafe Luc in Marylebone with their special Vogue Fashion Menu. Head Chef David Collard presents a decadent, market fresh 3 course menu (£24.50) including lobster, foie gras, truffles and of course, Champagne.

On the night, Cafe Luc is launching its Bag Valet service, so you can relax while the attentive staff guard your new purchases.

Even the most seasoned London shoppers will find the sheer number of FNO events overwhelming, so Vogue have made it easy to plan the night with an online shop directory, where you can add events to your list and print it off, or share with friends. You can even locate the stores on a map and plan your schedule down to the last minute. What can be better than that?

Where will your fashion crawl take you tonight? Cocktails with Manolo? Tea and cakes with Christian? Share your fashion itinerary…

Why should only the fashion editors and celebs have all the fun at Fashion Week? It’s a question that’s being asked by many designers this season, with a number of them like Alexander Wang, Burberry, Rodarte and Proenza Schouler all streaming their shows live on the net (and in Wang’s case, projected on Times Square).

TOPSHOP are continuing the democratic trend with a flurry of amazing events at their Oxford Circus flagship store from 19-23 February. Whether you’re doing the rounds at Somerset House or glued to SHOWstudio, you can stop by TOPSHOP to get nail art done by the coolest nail techs in town, demolish some cupcakes and get insider tips on how to create a hit fashion blog. They also will be streaming the shows that they support as part of New Gen, straight from the catwalk.

Dalston-based WAH Nails are setting up a pop-up concept salon, where the technicians will be recreating looks from the catwalk or anything you could possibly dream of, they really are THAT good.

With a huge presence of bloggers gracing the London Fashion Week shows (your truly included), TOPSHOP have invited some of the luminaries of the blogosphere to share advice on how to create and maintain a must-read blog. Leading the workshops will be Oh Elle, Coco’s Tea Party and one of my fave bloggers, Disneyrollergirl.

But even with all the fashion madness going on, we still need sugary treats to keep us going. I reckon even weary and famished fashion editors won’t be able to resist a ‘couture cupcake’ from pop-up store, Ella’s Bakehouse (founded by supermodel-turned-baking goddess Lorraine Pascale).

During London Fashion Week, it’s all about new creations, so it’s easy to forget about the joys of vintage garments. Vintage experts Claire Nicholls and V&A curator, author and fashion historial Judith Watt will be showcasing a hand picked collection of vintage pieces by icon designers such as Jeanne Lanvin, Chanel, Ossie Clark, Azzedine Alaïa and Balenciaga.

Together they form The Vintage Acadème, specialising in sourcing the very best twentieth-century women’s fashion and haute couture. Clare and Judith will be on hand to give advice on the history of the garments and their designers. You’ll be able to try on some of the pieces – with tips from a TOPSHOP Style Advisor – and some items will even be for sale.

The Fashion Wall will be playing shows by TOPSHOP Unique and long-term designer collaborators Meadham Kirchoff, Christopher Kane, Mary Katranzou, Richard Nicholl, Marios Schwab, Louise Goldin and more.

The impossibly gorgeous Erin Wasson will also be teaming up with Blake Mycoskie, founder of ethical footwear brand TOMS, to host the first ‘Style Your Sole’ workshop, providing ideas to help you customised your shoes. TOMS’ mission is to match each pair of shoes sold by donating a pair to a child in a developing country and fans of the brand include Karl Lagerfeld and Sienna Miller.

Providing the soundtrack throughout the week will be live DJ sets from Stricken City, Peggy Sue, Esben and the Witch, Wet Dog, Bleech, Chew Lips and Samual and the Dragon.

As if that wasn’t enough, every time you spend £80 in store (lets face it, that’s not too difficult), you receive a free gift – just visit the Fashion Wall to see what prize is on offer. Gifts include free WAH Nails manicures, new season accessories and loaded gift cards to spend in store.

Visit the TOPSHOP website for details and event schedule.

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Vogue Fashion’s Night Out

London Fashion Week comes to TOPSHOP!