Topshop releases Nick Knight film starring Karlie Kloss

 

Nick Knight has produced a film for Topshop in celebration of its 10 years of designer collaborations and 10th anniversary as sponsor of the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN scheme supporting up-and-coming talent.

The spot stars supermodel Karlie Kloss in an array of looks from the high street retailer’s best designer collections of the past decade, including Richard Nicoll, Mary Katrantzou, Marios Schwab and Christopher Kane.

It launched on SHOWstudio and Topshop.com this morning, in time for the first day of London Fashion Week.

It will also be shown on the outdoor screen of LFW’s Somerset House throughout the week, in Topshop’s store windows and on London Underground station platforms.

Beyond Burberry: how London Fashion Week is ramping up digital

Burberry might be the hot ticket when it comes to pioneering digital initiatives during London Fashion Week, but that doesn’t mean a wealth of other British brands aren’t giving it a go as well…

Read the rest of my Mashable piece, here – Beyond Burberry: how London Fashion Week is ramping up digital

Glamour mag offers virtual shopping wall for beauty products in NY

US Glamour magazine has set up a virtual beauty shopping wall in New York that lets users scan 2-D barcodes on their phones and have products sent directly to their homes.

It was inspired by the Tesco Homplus subway initiative in South Korea last summer. “We thought ‘how can we bring that here?’ We’re not about supermarkets, but we are about beauty products,” Bill Wackermann, exec VP-publishing director at the magazine told Advertising Age.

The wall features products from brands such as John Frieda, Elizabeth Arden, Clearasil and Versace, many of whom are longstanding advertising partners with Glamour.

It is based opposite the Standard Hotel in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, and will be on display until Tuesday, February 21.

Harrods invites Facebook fans to decide Burberry collection buy

Luxury department store Harrods has decided to listen to the voice of its consumer for the autumn/winter 2012/13 season, by handing the buying decision of the forthcoming Burberry collection over to its Facebook fans.

The day after the designer’s show at London Fashion Week on Monday, Harrods will post images of every look on its Facebook page. Those that receive the most likes, will be incorporated into the store’s buy for the season.

It’s an interesting move for a store renowned for its somewhat elitist approach to retail. But crowdsourcing for inspiration (as well as confirmation) is becoming an evermore appealing route for those in tune with successful social strategies.

The argument in this case is almost certainly that it’s common sense those outfits proving the most popular at this stage will end up being the ones that sell once they hit the floor later in the year (though the profile of the Harrods Facebook fan versus the actual Harrods shopper could be questioned).

It’ll be interesting to see how this develops and ultimately, whether it works.

Look out for my forthcoming opinion piece on how this season’s fashion week shows have been about offering full consumer access versus providing press and buyers with new digital exclusives…

Alexander Wang showcases SS12 campaign video with New York installation

Alexander Wang’s spring/summer 2012 campaign video is being shown as an installation under the High Line in the Chelsea Gallery District in New York.

Starring model Liya Kebede, and directed by James Lima, it’s inspired by arcade video games and racing cars. The installation itself sees the video projected on the windows of fabricated crashed cars (as the above picture shows) using Spyeglass rear-projection film.

It was produced by Matthew Shattuck of Dissident Industries Inc. and  creative director Christopher Simmonds.

A short, teaser version of the video can be seen here:

Oscar de la Renta crowdsources creative ideas through #theboard

Oscar de la Renta is inviting consumers to become a part of his creative process by launching a virtual pinboard open for anyone to post their ideas to.

In a new take on crowdsourcing, “The Board“, says the designer, is a call for anyone and everyone to help him out with ideas for his next collection.

“Don’t tell me, show me…” reads the tagline.

In an accompanying video address, he says: “Come with us, give us ideas; things that we haven’t thought about that you think will be great… I would love to embrace anything that you have to say.”

The initiative launched following this evening’s autumn/winter 2012/13 show in New York. There are already posts by the likes of Marie Claire fashion director Nina Garcia, Erica Domesek of P.S. I made this, and bloggers Tom & Lorenzo.

It follows hot on the heels of the fashion industry’s love affair with Pinterest.

Those viewing submissions can also share the inspiration of others on their own Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest pages.

Digital snippets: Dior, Made Fashion Week, Moda Operandi, Bottega Veneta, Michael Kors, Dove

Some more great stories from around the web surrounding all things fashion and digital over the past week:

• Dior gains most post likes on Facebook during January (see above chart) [WWD]

• Sound technology enables real-time image sharing in Made Fashion Week’s new app [NY Times: Bits]

• Fashion start-up Moda Operandi: now opening to the world [Mashable]

• Behind-the-scenes as artist Jack Pierson works with Tomas Maier to create Bottega Veneta’s SS12 campaign, The Art of Collaboration [YouTube]

• Michael Kors uses Twitter and Instagram in Valentine’s Day campaign [Luxury Daily]

• Dove erects Valentine’s Day ‘tweet screen’ in London [Campaign]

• For fashion brands: your top 5 Pinterest questions answered [Fashion's Collective]

• YouTube beauty: top 10 channels to follow [Mashable]

Diane von Furstenberg gives fans backstage access to fashion week show with 30-second video series

Diane von Furstenberg is posting a series of short behind-the-scenes videos on its Facebook page in the run up to tomorrow’s New York Fashion Week show.

The 30-second snippets have been produced on mobile video app Viddy, and include interviews with the designer, highlights from the sample room and model castings and insights from other members of the Diane von Furstenberg team such as merchandising and PR.

The quick and frequent posts provide more of a Twitter experience than other backstage experiences. “The experience is designed to give fans a more intimate — and frenetic — look at show preparations,” reports Mashable.

 

Video: David Beckham ad hand-painted on mega New York billboard

Love this – H&M has released a time-lapse video showing a 220ft hand-painted mural of David Beckham in his new Bodywear collection, going up on 34th Street and 8th Avenue in New York.

The process reportedly took two weeks. “Enjoy the making of one of America’s oldest forms of advertising,” reads the YouTube synopsis…

Clarks partners with Aurasma for augmented reality SS12 ads

British footwear retailer Clarks is experimenting with augmented reality for the first time in a bid to close the gap for consumers between its print ads and e-commerce.

Following in the footsteps of Dunhill, Net-a-Porter and the British Fashion Council before it, the brand has partnered with image-recognition technology company Aurasma to make its spring/summer 2012 campaign come alive.

Using the Aurasma app (available for free from iTunes and for the Android), consumers will be able to point their cameras any any Clarks advert to see one of four different videos that accompany it. They will also be able to click through to the Clarks website to continue browsing.

Roy Gardner, head of category at Clarks, said: ‘We’re proud to be the first footwear brand to offer this experience to our consumers in the UK. Aurasma technology enables us to provide fantastic insight into the Clarks brand at a time when we are embracing new and innovative ways of inspiring and
engaging our consumers.’

UPDATE: M&S has also teamed up with Aurasma for a special Valentine’s Day campaign – read more here.