Alice + Olivia, Topshop kickstart prom season with online push

A number of designers and retailers are reaching out to teens through a variety of online initiatives in the build-up to the forthcoming prom season.

Alice + Olivia is one such example; utilising social media to do so. The brand’s designer and founder Stacey Bendet is hosting a live Twitter chat on Tuesday, April 2 at 3pm EST. She will be answering questions and giving styling tips to help shoppers achieve the “perfect prom look”.

Users can submit questions via the hashtag #askstace.

Topshop is also looking to prom with a series of store events held in specific cities during March (three in the US and five in the UK), and a collection of dresses, accessories and shoes inspired by a touch of Kurt Cobain grunge.

All of that is tied together with online content including the below film from director Sean Frank. Referred to as a “vintage-inspired ride in getting prom perfect”, the clip is cast with a filtered light as the model is seen getting ready for the evening, dancing under a disco ball and ending up jumping in the swimming pool.

The British-based high street retailer has slowly been upping its focus on more holiday-based marketing – pushing out relevant collections around the likes of Halloween, holiday and Chinese New Year with dedicated campaigns. Doing so is of course further cementing its presence in the US market especially. Expect more to follow.

#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.

KCD’s Digital Fashion Shows open to the public

The Digital Fashion Shows initiative launched by PR agency KCD in 2012 as an invite-only online catwalk series for press and buyers, will be open to the public for the first time this season.

Kickstarting for autumn/winter 2013/14 during New York Fashion Week, the virtual runway shows aim to provide fans with the same “front row experience” as industry insiders. A slicker version than live-streamed affairs, however, they incorporate a pre-recorded catwalk presentation, high res images ready for download, detailed notes about the collection, and even beauty shots.

“The log-in response from non-invitees was tremendous and as it continued to grow with each digital show it became necessary to respond to our client’s request to open the platform’s doors wider for greater exposure,” said Rachna Shah, KCD’s digital managing director.

Accordingly, the now open nature of the platform will also enable users to share each show via email and social media for the first time this season, as well as invite friends to watch.

Designers Peter Som and Pierre Balmain have already announced participation, hosting their runways on the site on Wednesday, February 13 at 9am EST, and Friday, February 8 at 9am EST, respectively.

Som said: “The eye goes through an added process designing for the digital runway. You see the looks more dimensionally and more cinematically which is an inspiring new challenge.” He explained that the format will provide “an opportunity to try out a new platform that can reach a lot of people. The show will tap right into the digital and online presence of my brand and it will allow me to try something new creatively.” It is being shot at Made at Milk in New York and wil feature eight models.

Pierre Balmain meanwhile is using DFS for the second season, previously with a show recorded in Beijing, this time in Paris. Menswear brand Alexander Plokhov will also show on the site on Saturday, February 9 at 10am EST. Further announcements will follow for Paris.

Topshop connects physical and digital worlds with #trickortweet Halloween campaign

Topshop is introducing the idea of tweets as currency this Halloween by inviting shoppers to take to Twitter while in store in exchange for certain make-up products.

Part and parcel of the British retailer’s #trickortweet campaign which celebrates its new Witching Hour collection, the initiative will see select flagship stores hosting a special “Tweet Shop” where the online-meets-offline experience will take place.

Trick or Tweet-themed backdrops and posters will be made available for consumers to take a twitpic of themselves in front of.

Fans away from the store are also invited to tweet to @Topshop using the hashtag with their favourite Halloween style tip or a twitpic of their Halloween outfit anytime between October 26-31. The same is being pushed across Instagram.

“We love the idea of using Halloween to connect our digital and physical worlds. We know our customer moves seamlessly between the two and we want to make that experience even more fun for them and drive conversation in our community around a moment that everyone wants to be a part of,” says Justin Cooke, CMO of Topshop.

Topshop will send back personalised thank you messages to entrants, with the best tweets each day winning £100/$150 gift cards.

Prizes will also be given in store to those dressed in the best Halloween-inspired outfits during the “witching hour” of  5pm-6pm on October 27 and 31. Further activities will include complimentary make-overs and a number of DJ performances.

Participating stores include Oxford Circus, Manchester Arndale, Liverpool, New York, Las Vegas and Chicago.

Topshop celebrates Diamond Jubilee with Meadham Kirchhoff in-store and online events

Harrods did it, so did Tatler, now Topshop is connecting with consumers via digital (as well as in-store) to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this weekend.

The high street retailer has partnered with design duo Meadham Kirchhoff to host a “Fashion Spectacular” at its flagship Oxford Circus store on June 1. The party will feature a “special performance” at 5pm GMT that will be live-streamed on Topshop.com for all those outside London wishing to see.

Fans are also in with the chance of winning a Meadham Kirchhoff Jubilee glitter tee and a £500 shopping spree by tweeting a picture of themselves to @Topshop using the #TopshopQueen hashtag.

Other treats in-store include Meadham Kirchhoff for Topshop Jubilee face art; designer sweets handed out by Meadham Kirchhoff usherettes including multi-coloured candy floss and pink glitter popcorn; and Meadham Kirchhoff-designed glittery Jubilee paper crowns for every £60 spent.

#SXSW Interactive: a new must on the fashion calendar

I have just returned from the most incredible week at SXSW Interactive, where speakers varied from Al Gore and Sean Parker, to Ray Kurweil, Biz Stone and Dennis Crowley.

I’m in the midst of finishing off a piece on the key thoughts and ideas from the week – to be published elsewhere [UPDATE: if you're interested please email me for a copy].

In the meantime, I wanted to write one very short and simple blogpost that says, if you’re a fashion brand aiming to achieve anything along the lines of digital success, you need to go next year.

SXSW is the place to hear industry leaders (aforementioned and more) give expert insights; it’s the place to learn about new innovations and source fresh inspirations; and it’s the place where trends and directions for the tech world break.

But more importantly, it’s the hottest place to network with anyone and everyone also working in this space. Serendipity as Mashable calls it here. From meeting new start-ups and coordinating with established platforms, to swapping ideas with those from your own industry, it’s the perfect playing ground for getting your head both in the game and ahead of the curve.

And if that isn’t convincing enough, it speaks volumes to see which brands are already doing it. There this year were teams from Burberry, Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, DKNY, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorfs, Net-a-Porter and Moda Operandi… not to mention fashion-specific platforms including Lyst and publications from The Business of Fashion and WGSN, to Fashion’s Collective.

It was undoubtedly one of the most valuable experiences of my career to date.

I hope to see you there in 2013!

John Frieda to stream live styling event

John Frieda is set to launch a live styling event later this week marking its biggest digitial marketing investment to date, according to Brand Republic.

Through Johnfrieda-live.co.uk, the haircare brand will stream a one-hour Live Haircare Academy on May 27 at 1pm (GMT). Consumers will be able to ask the salon experts questions throughout, while beauty bloggers will be in contact via webcam.

Caroline Wilding, product and digital marketing manager at parent company Kao Brands, said: “For our target market we know how important the digital space is in driving deeper relationships with our consumers.”

The event aims to reach 1.3m consumers through its campaign. It is being pushed via Facebook and Twitter, as well as print ads.

The concept was conceived by creative agency Brave. It is being overseen by PR company The Communications Store and digital agency Holler.