DALLAS — NorthPark Center here is taking to the runway as part of its strategy to become the top fashion mall in the Southwest.
Inspired by New York’s 7th on Sixth, NorthPark Center will present 15 fashion shows from March 8 to 10 in a 15,000-square-foot tent that seats 500. Each show will be styled by a mall retail tenant that will have the option of presenting merchandise from the current season or the next. The event, Fashion at the Park, will be repeated in the fall with one day added, running Oct. 24 to 27.
“We have two business objectives,” marketing director Christine Szalay said. “One is obviously to be the retail destination within the Southwest, and number two to be the fashion epicenter. This enables us to showcase the retail and allows each one of participating retailers to do their own event in their own style.”
Fashion at the Park seeks to build on the mall’s $225 million two-year expansion. Barneys New York opened a flagship in September, and a new wing featuring youthful fashions, a food court and cinema multiplex opened last spring. CH Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors and Bottega Veneta launched this fall. Future openings include Gucci, which hasn’t set a date yet, as well as Wolford, Salvatore Ferragamo, Oscar de la Renta and Faces, all in December.
NorthPark has a $500,000 advertising budget for Fashion at the Park in partnership with the Dallas Visitors and Convention Bureau, which will market the event regionally and promote it in Latin America.
The mall, along with sponsors, will pay most production costs with a $600,000-plus budget for each seasonal event covering everything from hair and makeup to the tent, Szalay said. Stores will be responsible for model fees.
Participating retailers and the mall will send invitations for Fashion at the Park, with ticket prices from $25 to $100. In addition, presenting retailers will receive 75 tickets to distribute to customers. An H-shaped runway will accommodate 180 front-row seats.
“There is nowhere else you can see an event quite like this,” Szalay asserted. “You can’t buy a ticket to go to fashion week in Bryant Park.”
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The tent will be starkly designed in black and white with a bar, DJ and small booths to showcase accessory stores. Plasma TVs will broadcast shows from the previous day or runway footage from designers who are represented at the mall.
NorthPark will begin distributing information packets to tenants today inviting them to take part.
The tent will be erected in a landscaped valet parking area between Nordstrom and Macy’s. The mall also is anchored by high-volume units of Neiman Marcus and Dillard’s.