Digital snippets: Facebook, 3D printing, Weibo, Topshop, Calvin Klein, Anthropologie

It’s set to be a little bit quiet on here over the space of the next week as I head down to Austin to check out this year’s SXSW. In the meantime therefore, here’s a quick round-up of some of the best fashion and digital stories from around the web these last few days:

• Facebook redesigns news feed: what’s in it for brands [Inc]

• Dita Von Teese debuts 3D-printed dress (as pictured) [Mashable]

• Dior, Prada, Marchesa, Elie Saab and Giorgio Armani top Sina Weibo’s most buzzed about brands from Oscars red carpet [WWD]

• Topshop is fashion’s most social high street brand [The Wall Blog]

• Calvin Klein launches Dark Obsession fragrance ad starring model Matthew Terry [The Cut]

• Content marketing with Instagram: five lessons from Anthropologie [The Bureau]

• Dove Canada’s Photoshop ‘hack’ reverts airbrushed, edited photos [Huffington Post]

• Five brands that reaped rewards after adopting responsive design [Econsultancy]

• One e-commerce winner, one loser; two lessons – Farfetch vs Luxup [Material World, FT]

• Shangpin taps China’s fashion e-shoppers [Financial Times]

Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence features in making-of Miss Dior handbag ad

 

In case you hadn’t heard enough about Jennifer Lawrence this week (be sure to watch this and this by the way), here now is a video from the behind-the-scenes of her debut Miss Dior handbag ad.

Shot by Willy Vanderperre, it shows the new Oscar-winning actress posing for the spring/summer 2013 stills shots, all the while speaking over the top about her love of Dior and the timelessness of the bags in question.

“Dior represents beauty and strength in women and that’s how I feel when I’m wearing his clothes, they just make you feel so confident,” she says.

Kudos to Dior for adding her to their Academy Award-winning line-up: Marion Cotillard, Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman included.

On that note, Portman’s latest Miss Dior fragrance film, directed by Sofia Coppola, is also just out. “La vie en rose”, as it’s called, is a beautiful spot, and well worth the watch…

Infographic: #Oscars best-dressed according to Twitter sentiment

There’s nothing quite like the live commentary you get over Twitter when the #Oscars takes place, as everyone and anyone has some sort of say on the looks hitting the red carpet.

Fortunately then, there’s an infographic just landed (as below) from social media monitoring service, Sysomos, that sums up the sentiment of the evening when it came to the fashion.

Over 400,000 tweets were posted during the live arrivals of the Hollywood crowd, with Silver Linings Playbook stars Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper winning the titles of best dressed female and male for their respective Christian Dior Couture and Tom Ford looks at these 85th Academy Awards.

Lawrence, who went on to win best actress for her role (tripping up the stairs as she did so, which was instantly made a GIF of course), is also highlighted as the viewers’ favourite from the night with over 32,000 tweets. Anne Hathaway, who was wearing Prada, was labelled worst dressed by the tweeting public, despite stealing the number one spot on Vogue.com’s list.

The infographic also highlights US fashion brands deemed particularly “good at social media” (outside of the Oscars) by Sysomos, including Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Rachel Zoe, DKNY and Oscar de la Renta.

When it came to the big designers from tonight’s awards, however, there’s no doubt that winners lay in Dior, as already mentioned, but also worn beautifully by Charlize Theron, as well as Armani Privé who dressed best actress nominees Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts. Nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis also wore Giorgio Armani.

Versace was another noteworthy label worn by Halle Berry as well as Jane Fonda, who presented on stage with Michael Douglas. But it was perhaps Naeem Khan who truly stole the night, not for the stunning AW13 column dress seen on Stacy Keibler, but for that of First Lady Michelle Obama, who was the suprise presenter of the best picture award live from the White House.

Tripping up on the red carpet

Good point of view about the digital attempts around this year’s Oscars on the Iconoculture blog…

by Robert van Alstyne:

Any way you look at it, the 83rd Annual Academy Awards telecast was a dud. Fresh-faced cohosting talents James Franco and Anne Hathaway fell flat both critically and commercially. And ratings among viewers ages 18-49 were down 12% from last year (Variety.com, 28 February 2011).

But the accompanying online chatter soared. Twitter saw a volume of 36.4 million tweets during the five-hour telecast (PaidContent.org, 28 February 2011). ABC looked to join the dual-screen viewing frenzy by complementing its telecast with “Oscar Backstage Pass,” a mobile application that promised an inside look at Hollywood’s big night for just a buck.

What this actually amounted to was a spate of fixed-angle video feeds that users could click between to get a poorly lit glimpse of the Kodak Theater’s lobby bar or shakily shot take on the red carpet. It got worse when the curtain rose, with a snooze-inducing look inside the telecast control room featuring pumped-in muzak, and a pointless bird’s-eye view of the theater audience viewable only during commercials. Without the aid of curation, the user was always uncertain as to where she should be looking and when.

What made “Backstage” bunk was its complete social media disconnect, turning what might have been a seamless two-screen experience into a tiresome three-screen regimen for the viewer wishing to watch the telecast, use the app and enjoy Twitter witticisms simultaneously. To truly channel event-driven energy in the mobile space, seamless social media integration is as important as a Miramax-backed Oscar campaign.

[Iconowatch]

Oscars offer 360 digital experience

Given that I’m currently in Los Angeles and the build-up to the 83rd Academy Awards has already begun, I thought I’d post a quick update on all things digital surrounding this year’s Oscars.

It’s a big push from the Academy this year to involve as many people as possible, thus the tagline You’re Invited.

In a bid to attract a younger (and inevitably larger) viewership, young stars James Franco and Anne Hathaway have of course been recruited as the hosts, but so too are there a wealth of new online initiatives surrounding the event for the first time.

Between 20 to 30 cameras have been set up to offer online viewers a broader experience than ever before. Alongside the usual TV coverage, there is access to everything from a thank you cam to a press room cam. For just $4.99 fans can also purchase the premium All Access service which offers a 360 degree camera.

Those using an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch can also download the Backstage Pass app which similarly provides live streams from the various cameras around the Kodak Theatre venue in Hollywood.

Across platforms, the coverage spreads not only from the red carpet and ceremony itself, but backstage to see things like the winners getting their statues engraved, and a look inside the Governor’s Ball celebration thereafter.

The celebrities are more into digital this year too with live tweets from host @JamesFranco and other stars during the show.

A great start – there were already 1600 tweets per minute about the Oscars at the beginning of the red carpet coverage.

Happy watching!