Fashion Week is in full gear and it’s always an inspiring time in the city. The fashionistas serve up sartorial sensations while brands flex experiential muscle to connect with consumers. A lot of events rely heavily on musicians, artists, and the broader creative culture, which makes for some of the year’s most dynamic days and nights. In a town like New York, that’s saying a lot.
I love the intersection of stylistic trends with new marketing and sales techniques, and I’m a huge fan of the click-to-buy craze that a lot of streetwear brands are testing out. They build anticipation as they always have, but as soon as the line is shown (and the influencers post about it) it’s available. The real-time, direct-to-consumer endgame creates more opportunity for hype around the launch.
Kith’s show, one of the most talked about this week, used this tactic. You could cop their collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger immediately after the show. Kith has quickly become one of my favorite brands in the world. They’ve grown their platform exponentially and made their retail store a real draw. It’s like the Internet IRL, complete with a cereal and ice cream bar. They’re the kings of killer, out-of-the-box concepts like this, so it’s no surprise their Hilfiger show was a veritable who’s who of celebrities and influencers.
Another brand that does a phenomenal job of tapping into culture is VFILES. Their shows are always edgy, youthful, and wild, and this year they went big at Barclays with a slew of performers and designers, all culminating in an appearance by the Queen Bee, Lil’ Kim!
I can’t believe it’s only day three. It’s pretty much impossible to keep track of it all, especially with London & Milan fashion weeks also happening this month. I don’t know how you do it, fashion crowd. Don’t ever change but keep evolving.
No Fields Found.Also published on Medium.