Warby Parker: style x tech perfection

“Geek chic” might be somewhat of a cliche, but it’s an appropriate term in more ways than one when describing eyewear brand Warby Parker.

The US-based company not only has stylish (and affordable) glasses for today’s hipster set absolutely nailed, but it’s a model example of a company using digital and technology to successfully market itself.

I actually only became truly familiar with the brand at SXSW where it hosted a “Citizen Circus”, a 1920s-themed space filled with live music, vintage clothing stalls, food trucks and of course the brand’s own product. During Internet Week New York this week, it then held a party with Refinery29 called “Style, Specs + Tech”. Both events left me wanting to learn more.

Fortunately that wasn’t too hard. Provide a check-list of top social media sites, and Warby Parker is present across them all: Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram. Each is done brilliantly; tapping into the brand’s stylish existence, storytelling and building dialogue, while always looping back to a focus on exceptional customer service.

On that note, take its second YouTube account as an example. Here, short quirky video responses are posted to individual consumers. Some of them suggest which style to choose, other just say thanks for ordering (see below)… It doesn’t get much more personal than that.

In fact, ensuring satisfaction is seemingly seeded throughout the company’s business model. A wealth of innovative tech functions on its website help decision-making; rotating model shots for instance, or better yet, a virtual try-on tool.

And there’s also a service that enables shoppers to order five pairs of glasses to try-on for free at home. That may not seem about marketing directly, but the delivery encourages users to post photos of their options to Facebook. According to co-founder Neil Blumenthal, the average post then receives five comments, helping to publicise the products further.

The company is also tapping into the physical vs digital world in quirkier ways. Tomorrow its taking its love of Instagram onto the streets with a photo walk around New York. Following the success of a similar event held in January, it invites consumers to join for an “afternoon photo scavenger hunt beginning at Washington Square Park at 3:30pm, ending at our headquarters with Imperial Woodpecker Sno-balls”. Contest categories include ‘signs of summer’, ‘hotdog’ and ‘looking up’. Should make for some great Instagram content, not to mention further affinity with its fans.

If you still weren’t sure whether this is a good company to learn from, they also support a Buy One Get One model – for every pair of glasses sold they provide a pair to someone else in need, check it out. And why not order five pairs to try while you’re at it; I just did.

Facebook now public, what could it mean for fashion?

Well there you have it, Facebook is now a publicly-traded company. The social networking giant opened this morning at $42.05 per share. It instantaneously hit $42.99, up 13% on expected £38, valuing it at $117.82 billion, but rapidly fell back to under $39.

Of course the day is not out yet, but for now The WSJ is calling it a big disappointment. It’s certainly somewhat of an anticlimax for arguably the most-hyped IPO of all time.

So it’ll be interesting to see what it closes at. In the meantime, let’s not forget what going public could actually mean for the future of the platform, and for the brands making use of it. This piece from WWD is therefore worth a read: Fashion world mulls IPO impact.

In it, David Duplantis, executive vice president, global web and digital media at Coach, says: “Facebook has changed the world and brands and people have truly benefited. It’s going to be fascinating to see how Facebook evolves post-IPO. I believe advertising will become a bigger priority, and that, coupled with continued innovation, means the opportunities are limitless for both Facebook and the fashion industry.”

Stay tuned, I’d say.

Swarovski invites users to interact with augmented reality Facebook app

 

Swarovski has launched a Facebook application that employs augmented reality to film users wearing its sunglasses line.

The Be Amazing campaign invites fans to record a 15-second dance video of themselves in the virtual eyewear and then add music and a sparkle filter to their finished product.

The app enables sharing via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Creators of the top 15 in terms of likes or views, will then win a pair of the sunglasses.

Unfortunately, the above spot explaining the process highlights (quite amusingly) all the technical issues with such an app: eyes have to face the camera at all times, nothing can obstruct the view and users can’t step too far away – all slightly challenging when inviting people to dance.

The shared videos will also appear on an interactive map created by Swarovski – not dissimilar to Tiffany & Co’s Love is Everywhere initiative – detailing where each of the uploads have come from around the world. As below:

Swarovski’s ‘The Amazing Map’

 

Harrods unveils Pinterest contest winner, #DiamondJubilee window

As previously reported, Harrods recently launched a contest on Pinterest to tie in with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Here now is the video of the winner, Fay Martin, and her custom display in the infamous department store’s window ahead of next month’s celebrations:

 

Click here to see Martin’s original pink- and gold-themed Pinterest board too, inspired by an early portrait of the Queen.

Digital snippets: Jimmy Choo, Uniqlo, Nike, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Amazon

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

 

• Digital scorecard: Jimmy Choo 24:7 Stylemakers [BoF]

• Uniqlo bids you good morning with new social app (as video above) [Co.Create]

• Nike marketing boss attacks ‘old’ approach to social media [Marketing Magazine]

• How Michael Kors drives engagement thru mobile-friendly Facebook apps [Fashion's Collective]

• The New York Times expanding street style coverage [WWD]

• Dolce & Gabbana presents new eyewear collection with silent short film [Luxury Daily]

• How to reach the digital affluent male [Luxury Society]

• Amazon leaps into high end of the fashion pool [NY Times]

• The Bottom Line: Pinterest vs Facebook [BoF]

• Styku: how Microsoft’s Kinect could replace your tailor [Fast Company]

• Digital IQ Index: Brazil, Russia, India [L2 Think Tank]

Louis Vuitton rolls out first iPad app, tells stories behind 150 years of luxury trunks

 

Louis Vuitton has launched an iPad application based on its book, Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks.

Referred to as “a wonderful breakaway through the most beautiful creations of the Maison”, it details 100 pieces of luggage from 1854 to present day, and reveals the adventures of many of the owners.

Included are such treasures as the bed-trunk made for the explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, trunks for the illusionist Harry Houdini or the fashion designer Paul Poiret, the suitcase for Queen Elizabeth II, the vanity case for Sharon Stone, and the artist’s trunk for Takashi Murakami.

The app features more than 1,000 illustrations and unpublished documents, as well as 40 videos and sound clips, and 360-degree views of 10 of the most special trunks. It was designed in partnership with Les Editions de La Martinière and also comes available in four languages: French, English, Mandarin and Japanese.

Check out the teaser video above, and more pics below:

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Making of video: Valentino lace espadrilles

This is a beautiful video from Valentino documenting the making of the brand’s lace espadrilles from its spring/summer 2012 collection…

 

via DisneyRollerGirl

Dior’s new ‘Secret Garden – Versailles’ film fulfills mag potential

 

I wrote quite a tough review of Dior’s new online magazine when it launched in February, disappointed by the lack of real editorial interest in any of the pieces being published.

While there remain a couple of misses here and there, in general the aim to “both entertain and inform” now seems to be being met. Evidence lies in a couple of great recent pieces, including this Q&A with Hongbo Li, a stylist in the flou atelier at Dior Haute Couture; and this insight on the Dior Homme pop-up shop in New York.

Even better, the brand used the platform to reveal its new autumn/winter 2012/13 campaign film, ”Secret Garden – Versailles”, last week. Pushing it out through a number of teasers, it finally revealed both a 60-second short and a full three-minute version, as above, a day apart.

Created by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, the film features model Daria Strokous alongside Melissa Stasiuk and Xiao Wen Ju in a deserted Versailles.

“A wondrous path that winds through the Galerie des Glaces, through the palace’s endless interconnecting salons, as far as the grand tree-lined walks that sweep through the classic parkland à la française… a dreamlike fashion show where Versailles is transformed into Christian Dior’s secret garden, his emblematic château,” reads the copy.

Good job.

Digital snippets: Alexander McQueen, Vogue, M&S, Nike, Guess, Bloomingdale’s

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

 

• Alexander McQueen backstage film AW12 (as above) [DisneyRollerGirl]

• Vogue.com, SHOWstudio win Webby Awards [WWD]

• M&S raids its archives to create interactive lingerie timeline [Pressitt]

• Nike projection mapping sees building twist [Digital Buzz]

• Guess Inc’s social strategy [WWD]

• Bloomingdale’s exec: RFID boosts inventory accuracy, sales [Luxury Daily]

• Japanese virtual stores designed to give realistic in-store experience [PSFK]

• Decoded Fashion conference highlights fashion and tech’s tricky relationship [BetaBeat]

• Infographic: could Pinterest be the silver bullet for retailers on social media [Mashable]

Asos partners with Aurasma on scan to shop app

Asos is making its print magazine shoppable straight from the page, thanks to a new partnership with augmented reality technology company Aurasma.

The online retailer has introduced a “Scan to Shop” app that will enable the mag’s 450,000 readers to bring any one of 50 pages to video life via their smartphones, and then click to buy immediately from the Asos mobile site.

Asos has also incorporated a digital treasure hunt in the magazine, with hidden symbols leading to exclusive offers when unlocked.

Duncan Edwards of Asos Magazine, said: “We know our readers love fashion and their mobiles and this app unites the two. Our readers look forward to receiving the magazine in the post, but they also want the convenience and immediacy of shopping via their phones. Our new “Scan to Shop” app uses Aurasma to bring the two experiences – reading the magazine and shopping online – together seamlessly.”

To use the feature, readers must just download the Scan to Shop app from the App Store or Google Play.

The initiative sees Asos added to a rapidly growing list of fashion brands using Aurasma’s innovative image-recognition technology, included among them Net-a-Porter, Dunhill, Debenhams and most recently eBay.