Filming of the Fashion’s Night Out documentary airing on CBS on September 14 will wrap up in just a few more days. Two huge chunks of the event are yet to occur: the Fashion’s Night Out fashion show taking place tonight at Lincoln Center and Fashion’s Night Out itself, taking place Friday. The television production, which includes a live webcast of the fashion show tonight, is at once deeply complex, frightening, and quite possibly dangerous. After Anna Wintour and Les Moonves dreamed up the program, there was only one woman for the job: CBS News producer and executive producer of 48 Hours Mystery Susan Zirinsky.
“It’s been like going to war, because of the details to attention [sic] and because of the multiplatform,” says Zirinsky, who has covered a war or two at CBS News.
CBS is doing everything it can to make sure no drunken stumble goes undocumented in the war zone on Friday. Ten to fifteen cameras will comb New York alone, while Zirinsky will collect footage from feeds of Fashion’s Night Out events around the country.
Having worked in the FNO trenches since March, Zirinsky found a humanity to the event — this isn’t just about appealing to crusty rich people who can afford to walk into the Lanvin store in their workout spandex and fur chubbies, set a dewy box of coconut water on the real fur bench, and then drop $1,100 on a pair of leather gloves.
“There are stories, there are vignettes, there are profiles within this show for the viewer who may not be into high-end fashion,” she says. “We have some really interesting stories about unique people.
“We kind of go past the glamour. Glamour is great and may attract an audience,” she says, but stresses that the main goal is to “really look at the real-life things that are at stake for all of the people working in the industry.”
Well, that’s kind of inspiring. So … how many of you actually plan to buy something to go with your free sparkling wine this year?
CBS cameras to show there’s more behind ‘Fashion’s Night Out: The Show’ than glamour [NYDN]
