“Fergie! Fergie!” cries a young boy in a fringed leather jacket clutching an iPhone in one hand and a Fergie CD in the other as he runs toward the escalator where she has appeared. Dressed in a short, tight, sky-blue dress, Fergie hugs the boy and poses for a photo. About 200 people have gathered at Nordstrom at the Grove, where the Black Eyed Peas singer signs autographs for shoppers who buy from her newest shoe collection.She sits at a black lacquered table surrounded by shelves that display chunky suede and leather boots in pearl grey, caramel and black as well as suede stilettos with dainty crisscross patterns over the toe. Fergie is wearing a pair of the stilettos, and one onlooker remarks, “Yeah, but did she actually design them herself?”

Meanwhile, Fergie sits like a queen, greeting her subjects as she squeezes the hands of each person she meets. The fans represent a variety of ages and cultural backgrounds.

Bodyguards at her side keep order but everyone is pretty relaxed.

One employee opines, “She should have come in on a string and lit herself on fire or something.”

In the background, the party atmosphere that was inaugurated earlier with the appearance of TOMS Shoe creator Blake Mycoskie is still in the air. In the background the DJ plays Sheila E.’s “The Glamorous Life.”

— Daina Beth Solomon

Photo: Fergie for Avon. Credit: Avon via Getty Images

Read online at: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2010/09/fashions-night-out-fergie-at-the-grove.html

“Hey, you got the wedges – you like them?”

Blake Mycoskie welcomes each shopper with a grin and a look down to their shoes. His own light blue  colored espadrilles are well worn. The founder of TOMS Shoes is at Nordstrom at the Grove to present new models of his company’s trademark espadrilles and promote his charity project One for One in which for every pair sold another is distributed to an individual in a disadvantaged country.

The motives of Mycoskie’s project are serious but the atmosphere at Nordstrom is pure party. Pop techno beats blare from a DJ’s speakers. A mini putting green sits between the men’s and women’s shoe sections. A waitress offers risotto hors d’oeuvres to the crowd of shoppers, who fill the aisles so tightly that they must take care not to bump into one another.

Girls with side swept bangs and floral print dresses run their fingers over the display counter tops. Mothers push their children in strollers, and guys who emulate Mycoskie’s surfer style browse and chat.

Nearby, several artists use markers to decorate espadrilles with giraffes, peace signs, spirals – whichever designs the shopper requests.

About 25 styles are on the floor including holiday exclusives in tie dye, glitter and sequins.

Meanwhile, Mycoskie is busy smiling and laughing as he greets the guests who have lined up to shake hands and take  a picture with the 33-year-old entrepreneur.

“I love meeting the people who wear TOMS shoes and learning their stories and why they became part of the movement,” Mycoskie says.

TOMS shoes recently sold its millionth pair.

–Daina Beth Solomon

Read online at: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2010/09/fashions-night-out-raha-two.html

Bright light streams in through over-sized windows at the 11^th-floor penthouse at the Cooper Design Space in downtown L.A. Friday afternoon.  “It’s beautiful now,” says Richard Wainwright,”but at night when it gets dark, the place looks magical.” Wainwright is the co-creator of “A Current Affair,” a temporary marketplace set up for Fashion’s Night Out that features clothes and accessories from more than 20 vintage boutiques and private dealers.

With offerings that span multiple eras and price levels, it doesn’t take the right mood lighting to create a fashion fantasy land.

One table displays a five-foot high platform shoe striped in shades of green.  Opposite, a mannequin models a gold lame dress from the early ’60s.  Down the row, a rack holds magenta pink and fuscia coats lined with fur.  At a different booth, a single red feather flutters on the waist of a navy blue flapper-style dress.  Nestled inside a glass case, cuff bracelets made with beads from vintage handbags gleam in the sun.

Wainwright wants the event to be like a party, so in addition to feasting on sights of feathers and sequins, shoppers can enjoy an open bar and tunes from a DJ.

He hopes that hundreds, including celebrity guests, will visit the marketplace event, which runs 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and picks up Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“There are other places to be for Fashion’s Night Out, but we have really unique stuff,” Wainwright says.  “And the only way you can get it is if you’re here tonight.”

–Daina Beth Solomon

Photos: Vintage dresses from “A Current Affair.” Credit: Daina Beth Solomon.