Vogue Editors & Designers Converge in Tokyo for Fashions Night Out!

TOKYO — Japan’s supersized Fashion’s Night Out festivities kicked off Friday night with Vogue’s opening cocktail and gala dinner at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo.

Anna Wintour and Vogue’s other top editors including Franca Sozzani, Emmanuelle Alt, Alexandra Shulman and Angelica Cheung started the evening off by assembling for a rare “family portrait” shot by Frederic Aranda.

The Vogue brigade then joined the party to mingle with a host of designers, fashion executives and other VIPS including Michael Kors, Roberto Cavalli, Dior Homme’s Kris Van Assche, Thom Browne, Giambattista Valli, Nina Ricci’s Peter Copping, Fast Retailing chief executive Tadashi Yanai and Opening Ceremony’s Humberto Leon and Carol Lim. Guests entered the party venue by descending a staircase and walking over a dramatic transparent platform covering scores of white lilies.

Earlier Friday, Wintour put in an appearance at Isetan department store in Shinjuku, along with Shulman, Sozzani, Alt and VogueJapan editor Mitsuko Watanabe. The group started out by perusing a portion of the store, where they saw pieces from the Japanese brand Sacai. Wintour met with Sacai's designer Chitose Abe at her Tokyo showroom on Thursday.  Abe was also present at the FNO opening gala.

"I think she's wonderful," Wintour told reporters assembled at the store. "It's a very optimistic and positive collection."

Speaking at Isetan, Conde Nast International’s Jonathan Newhouse stressed Japan's ongoing importance to the fashion industry.

"Historically for many fashion houses it's even been the number one market," he said. "Even if the world has changed, Japan is [still] one of the most important markets."

After a quick photo session, the five editors signed autographs for a small group of select Isetan customers. On her way out of the department store, Wintour mentioned that she has a full schedule during her short trip to Tokyo.

"I'm here to meet as many Japanese designers as I can," she said.

Fashion’s Night Out in Tokyo will take place Saturday from 2pm through 10pm.