The inimitable red-souled Louboutin and other luxury stiletto streetscape in September signals the arrival of NY Fashion Week. Or, for the gents, designer sneakers. Lifted from lowly to lofty status, with designer makeovers, sneakers can be seen puddle-jumping from curb to catwalk, not a feat to be attempted in stilettos.
Welcome to Fashion Month Spring/Summer 16 Women's. Though "Insta Month" might be a truer label to describe the global event launched this week in New York as the so-called "Instagram Wars," heat up.
By the time the drill has been played out in London, Paris and Milan, designers will be assessing their Instagram strategies this season, weighing marketing investments and analyzing competitor social media strategy and tactics.
Now readily accessible, fashion houses can assess the impact of their digital strategy on social media platforms. I charted Day 1 of NYFW in NetBase to measure the day's @NYFW earned media performance by potential impressions, resulting in the timeline chart below.
Earned media for @NYFW peaked at 3 pm EDT, during shows by Desigual, Marissa Webb, Creatures of Comfort and Josie Natori. Further data analysis would reveal the comparative distribution of earned media by designer.
Given the heated digital fashion field, design houses will also likely be looking for hot digital marketing and data analytics talent. (After all, LVMH recently raided Apple for iTunes executive Ian Rogers to head up the fashion conglomerate's digital innovation. Cross hiring by fashion and tech has never been hotter.)
But the choice of Instagram as the preferred platform for the visually driven fashion industry isn't the only critical trend. No longer does volume of likes alone satisfy. Fashion brands now more than ever recognize the value of engagement. In particular, inspiring a visual dialogue with customers and fans in an authentic and potentially collaborative spirit. Engaging with potential customers in a specific market is also a more personal and creative way for designers to appreciate their customers, and vice versa.
Fashion brand identity and persona, have leapfrogged from atelier to visual platform to be coveted by customers, designers and buyers on Intagram, as well as fashion observers, media and fashion bloggers on Tumblr. As my NetBase domain analysis chart below of NYFW Day 1 reveals, Instagram and Tumblr each reaped 20% of total mentions, surpassed only by Twitter.
There are growing signs that some designers, with an acute eye to growing local market share, increasingly see value in sharing and eliciting a collaborative aesthetic in local markets. Employing Instagram's InstaShoot, Stella McCartney created an InstaShoot during her visit to Seoul, Korea in a nod to her large engaged fans. Other designers, too, have found creative ways to leverage the platform and have conversations with customers to create new stories.
New players have also entered the fashion fray. Evidence that entertainment and tech are seeking increased equity in NYFW, the once rarified runway shows are now publicly livestreamed by new owners, entertainment giant WME/IMG. All collections shown at Skylight at Moynihan Station and Skylight Clarkson Sq. will be livestreamed on NYFW.com.
NYFW is undergoing a sea change on many levels, to wit:
- NYFW new ownership/original content. As if Hollywood celebs weren't already a fixture at the runway shows, NYFW was bought by WME/IMG, who will be extending their fashion entertainment foothold by creating a fashion channel, Made to Measure (M2M) for Apple TV. M2M will feature classic fashion themed movies, exclusive NYFW coverage, and signs are that Apple intends to showcase original exclusive fashion content.
- Venue change. No longer at Lincoln Center, the main shows will be at Skylight at Moynihan Station on West 33rd and Skylight Clarkson in SoHo.
- Outdoor downtown live screening. Not only have the shows moved from uptown, they will also be livestreamed on NYFW.com on giant screens downtown on 14th Street.
- NYFW App. The new app will live stream the WME/IMG shows.
- Fashion for the masses. NYFW sponsor Intel has added a twist-look for the flying drones at the IMG/WME NYFW official Skylight venues recording the street scene and comings and goings.
- Intel's memory mirrors. The tech giant has installed memory mirrors at the NYFW Skylight venues, demonstrating a view to the future of dressing rooms. Similar to what Opening Ceremony revealed last year, here you can try on designs, save, upload and even order items.
- Wearables. Google is encroaching on fashion. Google kicked off NYFW before its official start Sept. 10 with a runway show featuring an LED dress designed by Zac Posen in collaboration with the tech giant and an incubator it has funded, Made By Code, dedicated to encouraging girls and women to train for tech careers.
- Renegade fashion. In a departure from the moribund traditional fashion herd mentality, off piste designer shows are growing, notably, Tom Ford, who isn't on the official NYFW schedule this week, took his FW16 show to Los Angeles during Oscar Week last year.
- Advent of the Insta-Show. Designer Misha Nonoo chose to "democratize" the runway experience with her SS16 collection, opting for an "Insta-Show," instead of the runway. Well orchestrated, Nonoo has recruited a host of fashion influencers who will "participate" in her event by posting snapshots of themselves in SS16 designs.
And what designer trends does the NYFW data reveal? Stay tuned.