As New York Fashion Week Fashion Week F/W ’16 draws to a close and the fashion pack hits the streets of London, here at Prohibition HQ we’ve been looking into not only the newest trends on the catwalk, but also the newest trends in the use of social media at one of fashion’s biggest calendar events.
It seems that as well as showcasing their new pieces on the runway to the style elite, brands are also trying to expose their wares to the wider world of social media. Many designers are now perceiving likes, shares, re-grams and re-Tweets as the digital equivalent of attendance at catwalk shows and footfall in their exclusive boutiques. Creating buzz and aligning their products to significant influencers in the industry are just some of the benefits associated with properly utilising social channels during the most prolific event in the fashion calendar. We’ve investigated some of the brands that have really won at New York Fashion Week in terms of digital. Tommy Hilfiger The 31 year old brand has never been shy when it comes to trialling new and innovative ideas regarding social media. With past social initiatives at Fashion Weeks such as the InstaMeet or the Vine 360 Booth being well received, the brand is always looking for ground-breaking ways to allow people to engage with it online. This season was no exception, with the brand opting to create an InstaPit – a photography pit made up of top bloggers and YouTube stars dedicated solely to taking snaps for their Instagram accounts, and for the guys at Tommy to upload live updates from their show to the official Instagram account @TommyHilfiger giving fans and followers real-time access to the collection. Twitter Believe it or not, one of the real winners of NYFW F/W 16 was the social network itself, Twitter. Along with the hashtag #NYFW, another has emerged to track conversation around the event – #fashionflock. Twitter’s head of fashion and film partnerships, Rachel Dodes said they wanted to ‘invite many of the top influencers and form an exclusive group’, and that, they did. The group was made up of 50 celebrities, designers and bloggers from Marc Jacobs to Kanye West, all of whom are incredibly influential on the social network. As well as providing the avid NYFW followers with a list of influencers to follow during the event, Twitter saw its opportunity to take on a sponsorship angle with specialist battery pack brand, Mophie, by giving away a customised juice pack case for the iPhone 6 to all members, which can now be purchased via Twitter’s ‘Buy it Now’ capability – social sponsorship at its best. Rebecca Minkoff Rebecca Minkoff is another designer who challenges the ordinary when it comes to showcasing her wares at high profile events such as New York Fashion Week. Last season, Rebecca herself stated that ‘the current fashion show system isn’t working’ and is trying to change the way it works with a new model for her shows. The brand aims to make the runway a ‘fully immersive fashion show experience’ aimed at both influencers and consumers, with the focus on instant gratification that is so popular in the fashion industry. The Minkoff brand partnered with technology giant, GoPro to livestream its show on Friday, granting access to not only the world’s best fashionistas, but to style enthusiasts worldwide. The guys at Rebecca Minkoff also employed virtual-reality technology consisting of two cameras with three dozen separate lenses filming the show, to create a true virtual-reality experience that will be released in a few months. Come spring, the show will be available to watch through Jaunt’s app on Google Play (for Android phones), on Samsung’s Gear VR, Oculus Rift, and on the Google Cardboard platform for iOS. Ralph Lauren Fashion heavyweight Ralph Lauren isn’t one to be left behind when it comes to social media, leading the way with innovative ways to gain awareness of its new collections. The label decided to invite a whole host of celebrities and influential bloggers to its debut its Purple Label men’s and women’s Polo range on Thursday. The collection managed to garner 165 million impressions in the first 24 hours following the event – all thanks to high profile attendees such as Ciara, model du jour Bella Hadid and Tyson Beckford. Although Lauren has scaled back the efforts from last season, where he decided to live-stream the new collection via recently developed channel, Periscope to the heart of London. The brand hasn’t underestimated the effects of social media, inviting all of the stars to a special breakfast and collection presentation dinner and encouraging them all to share on their own channels, generating buzz and chatter amongst the brand’s younger target demographic. Snapchat If you’ve read our recent blog post on how brands are using Snapchat, you’ll know that using the photo and video-based platform has become a recent trend amongst some of the world’s biggest brands. New York Fashion Week is no exception, with stories such as ‘This Is FASHION’ and ‘NY Fashion Week Finale’ sweeping the world, the social network newcomer is committed to delivering the latest images and videos direct from the catwalk, to its followers whose invite didn’t quite extend to the front row! With brands like Michael Kors, Marchesa and DKNY all showcasing their latest pieces both on the runway and behind the scenes, along with candid shots of models in action, the ‘stories’ are delivered straight to our Snapchat accounts without even having to search for the latest updates. Who do you think did NYFW best? Let us know your thoughts below!
