#SXSW Interactive in prep: a fashionable playing ground for 2013

If there was one thing I learnt from SXSW last year, it was that I absolutely had to go again in 2013. On top of the fact it’s the place to hear industry leaders  give expert insights, the place to learn about new innovations and source fresh inspirations, and the place where trends and directions for the tech world break… it’s also a breeding ground for incredible networking.

For anyone working within the fashion-meets-digital space, this seems especially the case this year, with more attendees headed to Austin from our industry than ever, as well as a host of relevant events to go with it.

Fashion’s Collective is hosting one of them, known as the Fashion Brain Bar on Monday, March 11 (as pictured above). It’s aim is to provide a bit of respite from the insanity of the festival, but also a space for everyone to meet the people they need to meet and have “the conversations that will play a key role in the advancements we’ll see over the next few years”.

Industry experts on hand will include Raman Kia, executive director of integrated strategy at Condé Nast through to Dave Gilboa, founder of Warby Parker. The full list can be seen here, as well as a space to submit questions to them in advance.

Another fringe event planned is called The Neighborhood. Created by AvecMode and 2nd Street District, it’s a move on from the Style X event of previous years, which brought a fashion focus (complete with runway shows) to Austin nearer the end of the festival. This time plans are in place from March 11 – 14 with a bit more of an industry edge. There are pop-up stores still, but also Q&A sessions with pros from the likes of Neiman Marcus, Michael Kors, Lyst, Refinery29 and more, as well as highlight interviews with menswear designers John Varvatos and Billy Reid.

The main SXSW schedule does of course feature a number of fashion-specific events too, including this one with Nina Garcia focused on the democratisation of high fashion. And this one featuring New York’s “digital it-crowd” in Aliza Licht, Cannon Hodge, Erika Bearman and John Jannuzzi (that’d be DKNY, Bergdorf Goodman, Oscar de la Renta and Lucky Magazine).

Fashion’s Collective has also published a survival guide to the whole five days, including must-attend events (lots of them non-fashion which I would highly recommend, there’s nothing like being inspired from outside your normal remit), as well as a handful of food and drink recommendations (indispensable).

I also love this guide from Andrew Hyde, called Ditch the Marketers, Find the Makers, it sums up the rest of the experience beautifully (be friendly to everyone, sit down when you can, put down your tech and look at people – yes really).

On that note mind you, if you’re going, drop me a line over Twitter. Assuming I can connect, I’d love to meet you.

Digital snippets: Juicy Couture, Gap, Harrods, Fendi

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

• Juicy Couture launching short shoppable film for holiday campaign (as pictured) [WWD]

• Gap Inc restructures brand leadership for global, digital growth [BrandChannel]

• Harrods partners with Stardoll to set up online store selling virtual copies of designer childrenswear [Marketing Magazine]

• Fendi flaunts fall handbag line via Rome-set spy flick [Luxury Daily]

• Bloggers on fashion’s front row [FT]

• Sally Singer named creative director of digital at US Vogue [Fashionista]

• Condé Nast UK expects digital to account for 30% of total revenues in 2014 [Media Week]

• Pinfluencer brings Pinterest contests to brands’ sites, Facebook pages [AdWeek]

• Here’s how consumers are shopping with their phones [Business Insider]

British GQ launches watch-dedicated iPad app

Condé Nast Britain has launched its first standalone iPad app with the annual GQ Watch supplement this month.

The “essential guide to the world of watches” comes in an interactive digital format complete with special animated cover, enhanced editorial content and media rich ads. It was designed in-house at GQ and is also the first high definition app for the company.

Meanwhile, the main November issue of GQ is a dedicated James Bond special. It marks the 50th anniversary of the franchise and this month’s release of Skyfall.

Fashion Hazard offers industry’s first action-fuelled catwalk game

Forget playing dress-up, forget virtual shopping malls, forget anything too girly or flirty, a new mobile game called Fashion Hazard has just hit the app store from Condé Nast that’s all about action.

Set on the catwalks of New York, London, Milan and Paris, it requires players to swipe, tilt and tap their way through all manner of obstacles to collect virtual currency, known as “bling”.

Competing to begin with as a naïve model called Ellie, there is everything from hissing snakes (a not-so-subtle metaphor for fashion industry types, says AdWeek) and retro stereos to contend with, not to mention the occasional can of red paint as though straight from a live PETA demonstration. As you progress, a more experienced model becomes available to play as.

“Begin as a model new to the world of high fashion and at the bottom of Fashion Week’s totem pole. Make a runway round-trip before the clock runs out without tripping, losing balance, or taking the ultimate spill,” reads the write-up.

“From New York through Europe, the rewards get bigger, the stakes get higher and staying on top gets harder. Stay in time, stay in line, stay in season…or become a Fashion Hazard.”

The idea for the game came from Juliana Stock, Condé Nast’s senior director of business and product development for its Interactive Product Group (IPG), whose 11-year-old daughter enjoys action games such as Temple Run).

“When we started to look at action and adventure with her interests in mind, which are girly, we didn’t find any,” she explained. “There was a need in the market to create an action game that was challenging, and yet still feminine and visually appealing to this demographic.”

It is currently available for the iPhone and iPad with an Android version due to follow, and costs 99c in the app store.

It also provides options for additional purchases including wallpaper and ringtones, suggesting future advertising opportunities could follow. It launches with a cross-promotional initiative with Frenzoo, developer of the Me Girl series.

Vogue.fr launches English site

Vogue Paris has introduced an English-language option on its recently relaunched website, featuring a daily selection of exclusive content for its international audience.

The move comes hot on the heels of the site’s reported 130% increase in traffic to 520,000 unique users a month in February 2012; an impressive figure alongside Condé Nast’s English language sites such as Vogue.com, which has 1.2 million uniques, or Style.com’s 2.6 million.

“We know that we have a very international audience, which is why we expect the English edition to drive even more traffic and help us develop the brand,” Sarah Herz, director of Condé Nast Digital in France, told The Business of Fashion. “Our strategy is to embed the style and feel of the magazine across all formats, as it responds to the new way in which we consume information today, and meets readers needs in terms of temporality and mobility.”

The Vogue.fr brand also celebrated reaching 500,000 fans on Facebook recently, and 1 million followers on Twitter (making it the leading French media account on the platform).

Next up will be a new iPhone app next week, as well as a mobile-optimised version of its website. From June, there will be a rich media version of the magazine available on iPad, and an Android app at around the same time.