New Opportunities for Brands
Brands are taking advantage of many of the same tools as the media. This year, more than 20 labels, including Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Vera Wang and Oscar de la Renta, hosted livestreams on their websites, often accompanied by widgets that allowed viewers to comment on the looks on Facebook, Twitter or on-site with each other in real time. Their view of the show was, in many cases, better than many of those sitting further back in the tents.
Besides livestreams, brands are also producing backstage video and photographic footage, and sharing it with their fans via their websites, their mobile apps and various social platforms. Tibi, a relatively young fashion label, has been posting behind-the-scenes photos (see above) from castings, sittings and other events and posting them to its Facebook Page for the last two shows, Graphics and Communications Manager Lacy Little tells us.
"It gives a broader perspective of the amount of work and vision that are put into these shows, and it gives our fans a great opportunity to see the creative environment that we produce the collection in. We're able to showcase the creative aspects and the faces behind the company, not just the garments you see on the racks," Little explains.
Fredrickson adds, "Fashion Week is a brands' opportunity to tell a coherent narrative for their season. Whether it's Tumblr, Facebook, or YouTube, they're going to use whatever makes most sense to present their vision for this season, to tell their story in the fullest possible way. Fashion is all about storytelling."
Fashion labels are taking advantage of other technologies, as well. Instead of the paper invitation system of years past, fashion show attendees can now RSVP to shows online and can scan their barcodes at kiosk stations in the tents to receive their seating assignments. Not only does it streamline the seating process, it also helps brands keep track of who actually shows up to their events, which they can measure against media coverage to determine the value of a particular invite.
More notably, brands are exploring ways to leverage Fashion Week buzz to pursue e-commerce opportunities. Both Oscar de la Renta and Burberry are making select pieces available for online purchase immediately after their shows on September 15 and September 21 respectively, months before they show up in retail stores. Burberry has even invited customers to watch the livestream in 25 of its physical stores worldwide. Visitors can watch the show on one of the many available iPads and use a custom-built app to purchase several items immediately afterward.
Oscar de la Renta CEO Alex Bolen said the company decided to test the new e-commerce opportunity after the success of its iPad covers, the first edition of which were sold exclusively online a few weeks after premiering at the company's resort show. (One was given away to the Foursquare Mayor of its flagship store.) "People wanted them and they wanted them right away," he said. "We shipped what we could, but we definitely missed business. For spring, Oscar [de la Renta] picked a key jewelry group [to] offer for immediate delivery." Bolen emphasized that the initiative was an "experiment," but that he expects more of these kinds of opportunities will come "not only from Oscar de la Renta, but from many fashion brands.”
Perhaps the most forward-thinking move of all came from designer Prabal Gurung, who premiered pieces of his Spring 2011 collection to online consumers at social styling platform Polyvore before the show. To honor the initiative, Polyvore is holding a contest for two tickets to Gurung's next runway show and a tour of his Garment District studio for the best ensemble created with the new collection. The winning sets will also be displayed on nytimes.com/tmagazine and T’s Facebook Page.
What This Means for Consumers
From livestreaming and crowdsourced coverage, to debuting and selling collections immediately online, Fashion Week is shifting from an event for media and buyers to a spectacle for consumers.
This trend is being reinforced by offline events as well. Fashion's Night Out, a now-international occasion in which consumers are invited to meet with designers and other fashion personalities at various retail venues, offers a new level of interaction for both parties.
It's a trend we expect to see more of as bigger media outlets turn to consumers to crowdsource their coverage of Fashion Week, and more brands debut their collections to consumers online before their official presentations.
What trends and opportunities do you foresee for fashion weeks ahead?
More Fashion Resources from Mashable:
- HOW TO: Follow Fashion Week Online
- HOW TO: Get the Most from Fashion’s Night Out with Social Media
- HOW TO: Score the Best Fashion Deals on the Social Web
- 14 Sites Changing the Way We Shop
- How the Fashion Magazine Industry Plans to Profit from Digital This Fall