London Fashion Week will always be at the forefront of every trend, and digital innovations continue to be vogue – and this year even the fancy designer brands are going to have to adopt a mobile-led, multi-channel digital approach to capture attention and engage their consumers.
Designers must now think of ways to launch their unique styles across all platforms, reaching the new, dominant mobile-first fan-base.
So it comes as no surprise that LFW this year is a digital extravaganza as much as one filled with flowery shirts and unusual trousers. The London event has been a digital-first event for the last few years, and millions of fans are expected to watch the proceedings online while talking about them on social media. Around 80% of all sales have a digital touchpoint, with a fast-growing contingent of mobile shoppers and younger customers who find their fashion inspiration on social media.
“Last year, Tommy Hilfiger stole the show with its livestreamed Rock Circus event, which allowed fans to stream the event straight to their phones,” says Craig Smith, VP of Customer Success at Amplience . “It embedded click-to-buy functionality across its social media channels, letting viewers purchase products as they touched down on the catwalk. A Facebook AI chatbot offered users fashion advice and suggested other items to match their selections, and the retailer also developed an AR catwalk app to give consumers a unique, instantly shoppable experience.”
This season, we expect many exhibitors to follow their example and double-down on their efforts to secure customer mindshare on social channels, believes Smith. “To target the UK’s younger, fashion-conscious consumers, we expect to see a marked uptick in retailer engagement on Snapchat, a great way to engage with the 1.9 million new users aged 24 and younger join this year.”
He continues: “The multichannel approach works just as well for the big brands, as well as emerging fashion retailers geared towards the fast fashion crowd. Crucially, there are two core elements to it: timeliness and relevance. So long as retailers can create and deliver a range of engaging, channel-agnostic content, LFW provides an excellent opportunity for brands to win new customers and drive sales.”
IMAGE CHRISTOPHER MACSURAK at Wikipedia
