Chloé unveils final letter in digital archive, invites sharing with bespoke invitational tool

Chloé sent its fans a symbolic kiss with the release of the final letter in its alphabet-based digital archive today.

Appropriate for the forthcoming holiday period, the “X”, like each of the other letters before it, comes with online content relevant to the history of the French fashion house. In this case, it’s a specially-commissioned track called “I follow you (Melo’s Chloé Christmas Kiss Mix)” by Paris-based singer Melody Prochet of Melody’s Echo Chamber (embedded below).

“This song is in tribute to Chloé, Chloé women and celebrating 60 years of all of us, it’s our theme tune in a way. So to all who have supported, designed for, bought, worn, written and talked about, shared, followed, loved and lusted after Chloé, we say thank you – this is for you. Enjoy!” reads the write-up.

This 26th and final letter also sees the archive – created by digital agency Guided Collective – become an “intimate invitational tool” from Monday. Users will be able to type in the name of a friend and send them a bespoke version of the Chloé heritage, relative to the letters that make up their name (demonstrated below).

“As [founder Gaby Aghion] once used the alphabet to inspire creativity and fun, we want you to continue the journey and introduce this wonderful story to a friend,” it says.

ThingLink’s interactive Twitter images could be a natural fit for fashion brands

Interactive images on Twitter? That sounds like something that would translate well to the fashion industry…

In which case, it’s worth knowing about ThingLink. A tool that let’s you “tag any image, with any content”, it was referred to by Mashable this week as having huge potential for brands and marketers following news of its link up with Twitter.

“Icons pop up when users hover over the image then, with a click, open up YouTube channels, audio clips, Facebook or Pinterest profiles, home pages, contact forms or anything else you would normally be able to link to the old-fashioned way,” reads their story. Click here to see an example of it in action.

They use an NBA team to illustrate an instance where images enhanced with links would work particularly well. But let’s translate it to fashion. Imagine a catwalk shot from (for argument’s sake, the easy option) Burberry. Now imagine if you could have a box that linked to play the full show on YouTube, or how about a click-through to the make-up looks up close.

Then we could also add in the Facebook page of the brand, not to mention one to Pinterest or to their all-new Instagram profile where all the backstage shots are housed. We might even consider adding the social profile of the model, thanks to a couple of nice integrated quotes from her. Now how about a link on one side that plays the soundtrack of the event via SoundCloud, or better yet sends fans to iTunes to buy it.

We could also think about an info box that lists detail about the product. And of course, a direct line into Burberry.com to enable everyone to pre-order it too.

The great thing is, ThingLink is ridiculously easy to use – so I did roughly the above with a Burberry SS13 show pic, and here immediately is the result (non-interactive version embedded below too).

As Mashable nicely sums up: “That single photo, in essence, just became a platform of its own.”

Check out more about what ThingLink is up to in the real-world with NFC, via this story from The Next Web, too.

Digital snippets: Prada, Instagram, ASOS, adidas, American Apparel

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

• Prada debuts iPad app, Il Palazzo [WWD]

• Instagram introduces web profiles (see picture of Burberry page above) [Mashable]

• ASOS shoppable videos drive holiday sales and brand engagement [BrandChannel]

• adidas experiments with interactive window shopping [DigitalBuzzBlog]

• American Apparel CEO responds to social storm over storm sale [Bloomberg Businessweek]

• Op-ed: The problem with most fashion-tech startups [BoF]

• Shopping site The Fancy sells a $26 million round [AllThingsD]

• Fashion brands sell their image with online video content [eMarketer]

Digital snippets: Chanel, Barnaby Roper, Michael Kors, Tod’s, Littlewoods, Chopard

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

 

• Chanel No. 5 surges on viral video chart, aided by Brad Pitt parodies (as above) [AdAge]

• Barnaby Roper’s Nowness film pushes interaction with user-controlled “future catwalk” [Nowness]

• Michael Kors lauded for digital desire: report [LuxuryDaily]

• Why Chanel won’t be available online any time soon [Telegraph Fashion]

• Tod’s releases apps to accompany Italian Portraits book [Vogue.fr]

• Littlewoods to mount live Facebook TV gadget show [Marketing Magazine]

• Chopard launches e-commerce in the US [CPP-Luxury]

• Ikea releases clever making-of video with alternative storyline starring Darren the Bear [PSFK]

• Business of Fashion reaches 500,000 followers on Twitter [BoF]

• Menswear e-tailers peddle salvation in a box [BloombergBusinessweek]

• Consumers turn to social media for customer service [WWD]

Uniqlo UK pushes Heattech line with kinetic energy game

Uniqlo is encouraging consumers to convert their “social energy” through kinetic floor surfaces and a pop-up game console in various locations across London.

Designed to promote its thermal Heattech collection, the initiative sees footsteps transformed into energy at the entrance of the Japanese retailer’s flagship store in the UK in order to power digital screens, and custom-made game consoles inviting consumers to “step to generate” in exchange for an item from the line.

These “heat spots” (as pictured) are accompanied by an online version on the Uniqlo UK Facebook page, and a mobile game accessible via QR codes located on the heat spots and in Uniqlo store windows.

The resulting energy from both online and offline, as well as conversations around Heattech via Facebook and Twitter, are then being calculated and showcased on the in-store screens.

The campaign launched in Covent Garden in London on October 25 and continued in the Westfield London shopping centre over the weekend. From tomorrow, Monday, October 29, it will run in Westfield Stratford and Bluewater in Kent.

Chloé launches digital archive for 60-year celebration

Chloé is celebrating its 60th anniversary with an interactive digital archive to accompany its Chloé.Attitudes exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.

The Alphabet, as it’s called, is an online exploration of the French fashion house’s heritage from 1952 to current day. Created by digital agency Guided Collective, it plays on the idea of founder Gaby Aghion’s own naming of her collections and garments, taking each letter of the alphabet and assigning it a relevant theme.

The first five letters were, unsurprisingly, C H L O and E. They launched simultaneously last week with a short film each (shown below) directed by Poppy De Villeneuve, Julie Verhoeven, Kathryn Ferguson, Stéphanie Di Giusto and Mary Clerté, who interpreted the themes of counter-couture, horses, light, O (roundness) and embroidery respectively.

The rest of the archive letters will be brought to life with further documentary films, previously unseen imagery, past advertising, sketches and collection references, editorial and even specially-commissioned music.

“Individually [they tell] a fragment of the story; collectively [they form] a mosaic of Chloé’s iconic moments, inspirations and heritage,” reads the write-up.

A new letter is currently launching every other day, revealed by a famous blogger worldwide before appearing on The Alphabet microsite. Once they are all live, users will be able to send friends an invitation featuring their own version of the heritage, relative to the letters that make up their name.

Referred to as playful, immersive, imaginative and compelling, the site is available in six languages worldwide and across multiple devices.

The Chloé.Attitudes exhibition opened on September 29 and runs until November 18.

Digital snippets: Burberry, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Proenza Schouler

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

• Burberry opens digitally integrated store in London (as pictured) [Mashable]

• Marion Cotillard presents Lady Dior web documentary [Harper's Bazaar]

• Marie Claire claims UK first with Dolce & Gabbana video ad in October issue [Media Week]

• Ralph Lauren previews SS13 accessories collection on Instagram [WWD]

• Proenza Schouler’s spring collection was inspired by Tumblr [Refinery 29]

• Uniqlo promotes San Fran store with interactive experience starring YouTube cat Maru [TheInspirationRoom]

• Zappos crunches Pinterest data to suggest tailored purchase recommendations [Contagious]

• New York Fashion Week street style is often a billboard for brands [NY Times]

• These virtual models could be the future of online shopping [Business Insider]

Calvin Klein to reveal interactive digital challenge for new fragrance

Calvin Klein is set to launch an interactive digital campaign to help celebrate the release of its new men’s fragrance, Encounter Calvin Klein, this September.

“Dare to Encounter” as the initiative is called, encompasses a virtual journey and a series of challenges for users to unlock and engage with on a dedicated website.

Fronted by True Blood actor Alexander Skarsgård, who was announced as the face of the scent in June, it follows a tale of desire with the brand’s other campaign star and supermodel muse, Lara Stone.

It uses animated GIFs (as shown) to “capture moments from the television advertising shoot and bring them to life in an unexpected way”.

All those who complete the challenge will be granted access to watch the Encounter Calvin Klein short film, and be entered into a prize draw.

The campaign was created by Fabien Baron of Baron + Baron, alongside Calvin Klein’s in-house advertising agency CRK, and interactive media and technology agency AKQA.

Stylist mag launches interactive #Olympics issue with Blippar

Stylist magazine launched its first augmented reality issue today with an interactive cover featuring Great Britain’s synchronised swimming team.

Enabled through a partnership between the UK free weekly title and image recognition app Blippar, the cover can be scanned to trigger a video of the Olympic hopefuls performing an exclusive routine.

“We knew we wanted to do something really special to mark the Olympics, and when we spoke to the Blippar team it became apparent they could help us create something innovative that would totally engage our readers and celebrate this incredible event,” said editor Lisa Smosarski.

The issue has various additional scannable pages throughout (recognisable by the Blippar logo), giving readers access to more videos as well as social media content and a “Style List” you can shop directly from. There’s also an Olympic medal leader board due to be updated daily throughout the Games.

“There’s so much to see, do and play with in this issue,” Smosarski adds in a video explaining how to use the app, here.

Stylist follows in the footsteps of Tatler and Asos who have previously made their magazines come to life using augmented reality.

Digital snippets: Louis Vuitton, Project Runway, Westfield, Nike, Macy’s, Ikea

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

 

• Louis Vuitton’s Yayoi Kusama app turns pics into polka dot art prints (as above) [PSFK]

• Virtual Heidi Klum rates outfits of visitors to New York’s High Line via interactive Project Runway billboard [AdWeek]

• Westfield pits East against West in social media Olympics campaign [Campaign]

• Nike to run real-time Olympics Twitter ads [The Drum]

• Macy’s rolls out Shopkick mobile rewards app nationwide [AllThingsD]

• Ikea’s 2013 catalogue goes interactive [BrandChannel]

• Why Stylecaster changed its site [Fashion's Collective]

• Retail brands can benefit from greater reach on Facebook by targeting their fans’ friends [Media Week]

• B2B fashion sites on the rise [WWD]

• Spoonflower lets users design and sell own custom fabric [TechCrunch]