Topshop teams up with Google for LFW show

Topshop came out guns blazing with the announcement of its partnership with Google for London Fashion Week last night. Showcased via a very cool trailer from the team at Google’s in-house creative labs (as below), the initiative includes everything from a live model-cam to streetview access inside the autumn/winter 2013/14 show’s impressive Tanks at Tate Modern venue.

The idea is to use all of Google’s platforms to give viewers access to every aspect of the show as if they were “the model on the runway, the buyer in the audience, the make-up artist backstage, the designer fitting a look or the celebrity arriving”.

News quickly spread across the web, from Vogue to The Business of Fashion, and continued this morning on the likes of Wired and The Next Web. A headline from The Guardian, read: “Will Topshop and Google change fashion shows forever?”

Said CMO Justin Cooke: “By partnering with Google we are broadcasting the show to the consumer from every single perspective. A fashion show from concept to creation.”

So here’s the gist of it:

• Models including Cara Delevingne and Jourdan Dunn will all be wearing real-time, HD micro cameras that will enable viewers to experience the show from their perspective. Pre-stitched into the clothes and bags, these cameras will show detailed footage from the runway as well as backstage. They have been developed with SIS Live using the ‘Hawkeye’ technology from major sporting events like Wimbledon. Said Cooke: “The model-cam will steal the show and this partnership with Google will feed that. Viewers will search for ‘Cara on the runway’, and their content will get propelled around the world”

• Exclusive access to these models will also be provided over Google+, where a ‘Road to Runway’ digital diary will feature everything from the first fitting to the moment they hit the catwalk. There will also be a Google Hangout inviting viewers to see behind-the-scenes at Topshop’s headquarters ahead of the show and ask the design team questions as they apply finishing touches

• Topshop’s YouTube page will feature a live feed on show day in a bid to broadcast the event much like the Oscars. Hangouts will air from the red carpet, backstage and the front row hosted by the likes of editor Melanie Rickey, blogger Chiara Ferrangi of The Blonde Salad, and beauty blogger Tanya Burr. Cooke said: “Our customisation of YouTube is a big deal, it’s not just Hangouts with one or two people; we’re using it as a live broadcast, like the Oscars, like a live behind-the-scenes documentary”

• Google+ will also enable fans to ‘Be the Buyer’ with a hangout app that allows them to create moodboards of their favourite items from the runway while seeking video advice from Topshop’s own buying experts as well as those from Selfridges and Browns. This will feed data back to Topshop on what items or colours resonate the most with consumers

• As with last season, every element of the show is also shopabble, from the new collection, to the make-up, nail varnish and music. The shareable Shoot the Show and Customise the Catwalk initiatives will also continue, evolved this time based on customer feedback

•  Finally, there will also be a custom designed Google+ animated photo booth in Topshop’s Oxford Street flagship. Fans can try on outfits and have their pictures instantly uploaded to the store’s interactive digital window and Google+ page

If Burberry hadn’t already put London on the digital map, Topshop just did. Watch it all from 2.30pm GMT on Sunday, February 17.

Burberry holiday film gives Regent Street store an animated festive spin

 

Burberry is wishing its fans a”magical festive season” with the release of a short animated film set atop London’s snowy rooftops.

“A festive night at Burberry 121 Regent Street”, as it’s called, sees a silhouetted couple travel by umbrella to the doorstep of the new flagship store where a party awaits.

Accompanied by the soundtrack “Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)” by Laura Marling, it sees them dancing on the second floor while a fox and an owl, both central to Burberry’s autumn/winter 2012/13 collection, dart across the screen. Even the Burberry festive van pulls up, before the couple depart, catching a giftbag floating down on a balloon as they do that opens up to a coat for the woman to wear home.

Housed on holiday.burberry.com, the film ends with the closing of the greetings card, social icons to encourage fans to share and the festive message that it’s celebrating the season by donating to the Burberry Foundation, which helps young people realise their full potential through the power of their creativity.

Topshop’s Cooke reminds us why music is fundamental to bringing emotion into digital

 

Justin Cooke, CMO at Topshop, took to the stage at Decoded Fashion in London Thursday with one simple message: “You CAN do emotion in digital.”

While he pulled on quotes, videos and nuggets of inspiration from the likes of Steve Jobs through to Mark Zuckerberg, not to mention Walt Disney and Sir Ken Robinson, what resonated the most was the powerful role music plays.

As Leo Tolstoy once said: “Music is the shorthand of emotion.” Cooke added: “Music is killer for me; you can take people down with it.”

He used the example of an Instagram shot he took of autumn leaves made all the more sentimental with the hashtag #paolonutini added to it. Or this beautiful animated Twinings ad that acts as a metaphor for taking a break from our hectic lives, while The Calling’s Wherever You Will Go by Charlene Soraia plays in the background.

But there was one example he gave that stood out more than any other, and that was the rain orchestra. If you haven’t seen it, do click above now – it’s almost worth knowing less about it when you do so for the first time.

… Spine-tingling isn’t it?!

What’s even better is that it’s also a phenomenal example of content that works beautifully for a brand, in this case Burberry, Cooke’s former employer.

Can a fashion house “own” weather? In this case, quite phenomenally so. From personalised animated GIFs of drops pouring down the window, to a partnership with The Weather Channel during the Olympics, rain has become as much a part of the British heritage brand’s campaigns as the outerwear it is promoting.

The autumn/winter 2012/13 Burberry show used this orchestra to fake a thunderstorm above its London Fashion Week tent, and the same now plays in its new Regent Street store in London. At the top of every hour, the lights dim and each of the screens circling the floor transform into a “digital rain shower” – quite a show-stopping moment for the unsuspecting shopper.

“We’ve tried to choreograph it so that you have content specific to certain areas, but then all of a sudden the whole store turns into one rain cloud and makes you stop and smile,” chief creative officer Christopher Bailey told The Business of Fashion at launch. “It’s not just about shopping. The important thing for me is that when you go in, you feel entertained.”

As Cooke explained: “People say you can’t feel that stuff… but when you’re at a show or in-store and that surrounds you, my god you can feel it.”

He pushed for brands to harness emotion to help their consumers feel more connected with technology and with things online. Super simple, but a great reminder that sometimes it doesn’t need anything more magical than that.

BONUS: Cooke also referenced a piece from The Wall Street Journal, The anatomy of a tear-jerker – a great look at how scientifically our emotions really get going through music.

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.

Zara launches People!, calls for creativity

Zara has launched a new project called People!, which encourages consumers to collaborate with the brand by sending in their own creative pictures for publication.

At people.zara.com, users are asked upload images with looks featuring at least two items from the retailer’s current collection. Each week a selection of the best will then be published online.

Those chosen will receive 300€ for their colaboration.

Yet another clever use of crowdsourcing – and cheap creative pics for Zara too.