| One rare item worth including in your fundraiser auction | | | | And honestly, that description is pretty accurate. Even |
| are tickets to New York City's Fashion Week. | | | | the average New Yorker can't easily obtain tickets. |
| Whether it's in the silent auction or live auction, they'll | | | | With that as your backdrop, imagine that you - a |
| sell quickly! | | | | professional woman wanting some adventure, a |
| Fashionistas know that Fashion Week happens twice | | | | stay-at-home Mom, a spontaneous gal with some |
| a year - once in the spring (March) to showcase fall | | | | extra cash -- have the opportunity to purchase two |
| fashions, and again in the fall (September) to | | | | tickets to attend this event. |
| showcase spring fashions. The event is held in several | | | | Who wouldn't want to go!? This would be a great trip |
| cities around the world (Paris, Milan, London, etc.), but | | | | for two best friends to experience, or would make for |
| New York seems to be the destination for our | | | | a memorable Mother-Daughter vacation. |
| domestic audiences. In our auctions, the tickets sell for | | | | Now that you're eager to pack your bags, let's talk |
| a few thousand dollars, without hotel or transportation | | | | about securing tickets. |
| attached. | | | | As always, work your connections. |
| Why are these tickets "hot?" And how do you get | | | | The donations I've seen have come from department |
| them? | | | | stores. Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales ... |
| Let's begin by describing the event itself. | | | | whatever department store serves your city is a good |
| Designers can rent space at specific venues in New | | | | target. Buyers from those stores go to Fashion Week |
| York to showcase their collections. Because hosting a | | | | in order to notice trends and ideas. |
| show is expensive, not all designers have the cash | | | | Ask the best dressed woman on your auction |
| required to produce a show. For instance, a new | | | | committee where she shops. If she is frequently |
| designer might opt to only show in Paris' Fashion | | | | shopping in a specific department store, start there. For |
| Week, but a larger fashion house might have a show | | | | instance, one of my client's volunteers consistently |
| in each city. | | | | used free personal shopping services at a local |
| From morning until night, a venue can be busy hosting | | | | department store. She shared with her personal |
| shows. A lesser-known designer might be in the tent in | | | | shopper that she wanted to secure tickets to Fashion |
| the morning. Later that afternoon, a fashion icon could | | | | Week for her charitable auction, and she was |
| be hosting a show in that same tent. | | | | connected to the right person. |
| When I've sold tickets to Fashion Week, I am not | | | | Be advised that because of the fluidity of the Fashion |
| selling tickets to every runway show scheduled | | | | Week schedule, the purchasers of the tickets may not |
| throughout the week. Either I am selling tickets to a | | | | know until a week or so prior as to which day a |
| specific show (for instance, the Badgley Mischka | | | | specific show will be held. It's best to let guests know |
| show), or I'm selling tickets to a specific show which | | | | that, "Fashion Week is September XX through XX, |
| has yet to be decided by the donor of the tickets. | | | | and the show will occur on one of those days." |
| These tickets are coveted because many 'average' | | | | Because your auction is taking place months in |
| people never attend ... nor do they even think to ask | | | | advance of Fashion Week, most guests don't seem to |
| how they might secure tickets. In our minds, Fashion | | | | mind the ambiguity. The reality is that if your auction is |
| Week lives in the domain of the rich and famous, | | | | in March, and the Fashion Week tickets are for |
| where the paparazzi cameras are constantly flashing, | | | | September, even the organizers of New York's |
| the models arrive breathlessly from their last job, and | | | | Fashion Week don't yet know which designers will be |
| celebrities are whisked inside to sit in front row seats. | | | | appearing. |
| The music is intense, the excitement is high, and the | | | | I predict that this will be one of the most sought-after |
| vibe that is New York is in the air. | | | | and talked-about items in your auction! |