Digital Fashion Week

WRITTEN BY Sophie Cockett

As the curtain lifted on London’s AW15 fashion week in February, fashion bloggers and fans alike were stirring up a buzz on social media like never before. Fashion brands were upping the stakes to digitally showcase their designs in the most ground breaking ways possible, and as the week came to a close, we realised that the fashion industry will never be the same again. This was the most digital fashion week ever and there isn’t any going back. Quite a bold statement, perhaps, but surely it’s clear that social media has become quite the game changer for the industry. With fashion bloggers and those similar being some of the most digitally savvy guys and gals around, it was only a matter of time before the once-insular business would become a leader in the digital revolution. Rewind a decade or so, it was down to only a few elite gatekeepers as to who was successful in fashion: which designers made it and which were thrown to the bottom of the pile; which writers could express opinions on the latest collections and which were best off keeping their mouths shut. This gatekeeper role was perfectly depicted by Meryl Streep in her 2006 film, Devil Wears Prada – a picture of the industry was painted as a world in which we had no say. Jump back to 2015 and whilst outsiders to the fashion industry are admirably earning themselves front row seats at the most prestigious fashion week shows (Tanya Burr, we’re looking at you), brands such as Burberry and Marc Jacobs are using the internet to interact with customers like never before. Miki Beradelli of Tory Burch once said: “We want to be accessible to our clients, whenever and wherever they are”. Established brands can reach audiences with one smooth click through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and these innovative steps are increasing brand loyalty by the second. Yet it’s not just the top fashion houses that are taking advantage. The brains behind your favourite high street stores are doing it, too. Social media has empowered the shopper and brands have started to use

the power of Instagram to test product popularity before they commit to buying. Miss Guided’s Clio dress got 3,300 likes and sold out within a day back in 2014. It would seem everyone’s a winner here. This brand new, fast paced fashion environment was clear for us all to see in London in February, and one brand in particular proved that they are well

...This was the most digital fashion week ever and there isn’t any going back.

ahead of the pack when it comes to digital panache to reach new audiences. Burberry’s Autumn/Winter 2015 collection, entitled “Patchwork, Patterns and Prints” was again held in Kensington Gardens, and models from Naomi Campbell to Jourdan Dunn walked the runway. Quite a spectacle for those in the room, but thanks to Burberry’s effortless social media navigation, it was a spectacle for those everywhere else, too. The brand which, according to show attendee Cara Delavigne, “always brings you so much – a mixture of music and technology and fashion”, allowed fans from all over the world to watch the show in real time thanks to their collaboration with Twitter. Any tweet which featured @ Burberry’s twitter handle and the hashtag #tweetcam triggered a camera which took photos of the models as they walked the runway. Burberry then tweeted each personalised photo to the user’s twitter handle. This idea of runway reactions in real time is arguably the most significant shift which the ascent of social media has created. I suppose its fashion week, unfiltered. Real time coverage was much more accessible than the typical type, and just five minutes spent on twitter, Instagram or vogue.co.uk meant you were just as up to date with the goings on at Somerset House as those on the FROW were.

ILLUSTRATION Francesco Lo Iacono

It’s important to remember that all this digital fun didn’t end when the lights went down. Burberry’s Runway Made to Order service, launched in 2013, was back and better than ever. Not only did it mean that for two weeks only all of the bags and outerwear featured on the runway were available to buy and personalise straight after the show had finished, but each piece also featured built in technology. Moving your smartphone over the item unlocked exclusive video footage, from sketches to the runway, and you could relive the journey of the piece. As your grandparents might say, it’s amazing the things they can do these days. Of course, Burberry aren’t the only ones making massive strides for the fast flourishing relationship between fashion and the digital world. In February, The British Fashion Council streamed live videos of all the shows to their website and kept everyone updated on twitter. Rubbing a virtual shoulder with models, designers and fashion editors was never easier thanks to the sprawling conversation which their hashtags created. Snapchat jumped on the bandwagon with their worldwide story which was bursting with backstage mania, shows and interviews, and models such as Suki Waterhouse gave their fans a backstage pass with videos and pictures on Instagram.