Fishergate Shopping Centre held its first VIP Fashion Night on September 23, welcoming in students and locals from the Preston area.
Two catwalks took place throughout the evening, featuring autumn collections and formal attires from various stores within the shopping centre. Models held up signs of the shops whose clothes that they were wearing, and attracted attention from the guests.
Vici Shulz took part in the catwalk, representing the Evans brand. She enjoyed participating and was approached by her boss to take part in the show after working in the store for three years.
“I love clothes and looking pretty. I wasn’t nervous or anything,” she said; however, Vici wants to see more fashion inspired events of this kind in Preston. “I would love a bit more on the fashion side and more involvement in charities.”
The first 200 guests through the door were issued a free bag of gifts, including a taster of Starbucks coffee, various stalls lined the shopping centre showcasing everything from vintage clothes to gift ideas.
Organiser Claire Johnson handles the marketing for the shopping centre and said: “This is the first big event I have organised since being here. I think if this one goes well I will have it as an annual event.”
Claire was hoping for a successful night and said that turnout was always the “scary bit” when organising any event: “You can do as much promoting as you want but it’s just getting people to come that’s the hard thing.”
The idea behind the evening was to showcase what fashion brands Fishergate has to offer, and to draw attention to the particular area of Preston city centre, as the recent roadwork’s close by have dampened spirits and made people reluctant to shop. Claire’s hope was to “get it a bit more lively again.”
Rachelle Bell was approached by Claire to set up a stall at the event. Her stall featured vintage gifts and clothes. She said, “I just do this on the side. I run a fashion blog so I do it through that as well.”
Like Vici, she too would be keen to see more of this type of event through the city, “I would like there to be more fashion based events in Preston really.”
Guests through the doors included locals to Preston and students from the University of Central Lancashire. Laura Shepherd attends UCLan and also praised the event in particularly the store discounts that were on offer, “It’s great! We’re poor, we can’t normally afford this stuff.”
Review by Anastasia Bates and photography by Gillian Lawson.
Did you attend the fashion party? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments below.