Roger Vivier has created an online puzzle as part of the launch surrounding its new Prismick accessories line.
Based on the late designer’s love for assembling collages, the simple game invites users to reconstruct an image of one of the collecion’s handbags by dragging surrounding tangram-like shapes into its shell.
It is housed on the brand’s website, which is also designed to reflect similar geometric patterns, tying in with the overall theme of the collection, as conceived by current creative director, Bruno Frisoni (and as pictured below).
“Pumps and bags which play with fluctuating geometry,” reads an update on the Roger Vivier Facebook page. “A jigsaw puzzle in three dimensions.”
Alexander McQueen has relaunched its website to incorporate contemporary label, McQ, in its own branded area, and offer the largest breadth of shoppable McQueen product anywhere online.
The redesign focuses on large, rich imagery to showcase the craftsmanship of the collections, as well as content to tell the story behind them. New dynamic lookbooks are fully shoppable across women’s, men’s and accessories, while a ‘More McQueen’ tab offers additional runway video, ad campaigns and access to pre-collections. Meanwhile, a separate experience area also houses info on special projects such as 2011′s Savage Beauty exhibition at the Costume Institute in New York.
A highlight feature also lies in the ‘digital scarf boutique’, which offers consumers multiple colour combinations of the brand’s iconic skull scarf, as well as exclusive prints.
Users can also curate their favourite items (from products through to campaigns) and save them under the ‘My McQueen’ header, and from there, share them across their social networks.
The relaunch also sees McQueen expand its e-commerce business from just the US and UK, across the EU.
Some more great stories from around the web surrounding all things fashion and digital over the past week:
Selfridges launches The Film Project with Alexander McQueen (as above), Comme des Garçons, Dries Van Noten, Gareth Pugh, A.F. Vandervorst and Rick Owens [Karl is my Unkle]
Karl Lagerfeld launches new content-driven website [WWD]
Bergdorf Goodman partners with magazine app Zite to push brand-relevant lifestyle content [Marketwire]
Mr Porter launches global augmented reality fashion hunt [Mashable]
Nike showcasing ‘future of retail’ with pop-up Nike+ FuelStation in London [Creativity Online]
Gap launches new campaign integrating geo-fencing technology [PSFK]
French Vogue is set to unveil a new website (as pictured) on February 6, which will blend its digital and print editions under the charge of Emmanuelle Alt.
Vogue.fr will cover everything from private meetings with fashion creators to backstage access to shoots with fashion photographers including Mario Sorrenti, Peter Lindbergh, Mario Testino and Inez & Vinoodh, and key insights into the current fashion and editing choices of its team.
“The age of internet has given way to a digital world in which media brands can at last express and use their skills, and that has made the creation of new emotions possible, the aim of the new Vogue.fr,” explains Sarah Herz, director of digital affairs at Condé Nast.
The design of the new site is based on large-format pictures and full-screen slideshows. The navigation of it is inspired by the iPad. It also integrates with social networks – allowing fashion shows and events to be followed live, as well as the magazine’s posts on Twitter and Tumblr.
“With this new website, we wanted to go a step further and create a new and original brand experience. We have overthrown the normal codes of web design. Our aim is to make it the digital reference in the field of fashion and trends,” says Delphine Royant, editor of French Vogue.
In further news, the magazine will also launch an application in partnership with Facebook called the “Vogue Paris Social Reader”. It will enable users to see the content read by their friends, consult the whole article within the Facebook ecosystem and share with others:
It’s great to see luxury fashion houses finally grasping hold of the fact the web provides an ideal place for them to demonstrate the richness of their brands.
Slowly but surely, we’re moving away from tremendously uninspiring sites built on basic building blocks, to innovative platforms housing everything the company both stands for and creates. Accordingly, that once awful label of ‘digital destination’, might finally be warranted after all.
Admittedly not all of them are quite there…
Dior.com recently relaunched, for instance, and its yet to prove itself as impressive as its preview video implied – a little clunky in functionality, and that’s before we get into the remaining lack of e-commerce debate.
And then there’s say Marc Jacobs, which, as Tony King, creative director of King & Partners, highlighted last week at the Fashion Forward Digital conference in New York, doesn’t quite live up to the luxurious persona with its animated entrance point. (For the record he drew on the likes of Burberry, Oki-ni, Bally and Tory Burch, among others, as examples of digital best practice).
Said to be “an exciting, ever-changing format of exceptional richness and visual appeal”, its design is based on the concept of a journey, tying in, of course, with the brand’s longstanding initiative, The Art of Travel.
On the homepage, a moving cloud of images entices users towards five sections of content:
New, Now: the brand’s online magazine, which offers insights into the house, interviews with international personalities and coverage of events
Journeys: the home of the Core Values campaign, such as this season’s travels to Cambodia with Angelina Jolie, as well as historical content on the brand, details on its craftsmanship, artistic collaborations and store architecture, and links to its Amble application
Collections: a presentation of the entire product range, featuring new moving and 360° images. A multiple search functionality is also integrated, allowing users to refine by category, line, colour or collection
Stores: a detailed information feed of Louis Vuitton stores worldwide
My LV: a dedicated personalised space for users to access bookmarked content such as news and wish lists, and info on past purchases
It’s certainly a hefty offering. The question is, once users have entered in, will they stay long enough to actually navigate their way through it all? While the content is beautifully done (albeit surprisingly in Flash), the functionality is a little slow, and if it’s a sale they’re after, the route to buy is not all that straightforward, once again. But on what level does this matter?
With a brand like Louis Vuitton, is it more important to immerse and engage consumers in the experience with the aim of developing them into sales properties later? Or certainly at least driving them into store instead? Maybe so.
As Rich Tong, fashion director of blogging platform Tumblr recently told me in reference to Oscar de la Renta’s use of social media, it’s about awareness and brand building.
“Oscar de la Renta sells $5,000-$10,000 dresses; there is absolutely no correlation between those dresses and a 15-year-old in the Tumblr community. But Erika [Bearman, director of communications] is aiming more for establishing the Oscar brand in that little girl’s mind, so that when she grows up and does become established or successful, or becomes engaged and wants to get married, she’s thinking: ‘I want to be in an Oscar dress, I want to be an Oscar girl’,” he said.
“For Erika, it’s really about the persistence of the brand; seeding the Oscar brand in these girls’ minds really, really early on. It’s a long-term play.”
Louis Vuitton – once it’s ironed out a few creases – in that case, might just be on to a winner. It’ll be interesting to see how it develops.
Uniqlo has launched another great interactive experience, this time enabling users to explore the retailer’s new line of functional apparel via video and motion graphics.
Developed by Tha Ltd Japan, the “Innovation Project”, as it’s called, is an example of online product demonstration at its best.
On entering the sub-site, users are first provided with an explanation of the collection concept – “clothing with revolutionary functions and universal designs” – as well as an in-depth write-up on all of the functional properties alongside their corresponding symbol .
Each piece in the collection is then illustrated with a model on a virtual catwalk. As she or he walks, symbols, icons and explanations appear alongside to indicate the fabric and properties of the garment.
Users are able to click through each look one at a time, or see the group together in an indexed overview. Beyond the moving catwalk, models are shown in a series of rolling animated images revealing other features of the product including fit and design details.
A great teaser video here for the all-new Dior.com, which just launched today:
According to WWD, the revamped site unites Dior’s fashion and beauty offerings at one address in a bid to engage young consumers and reinforce the brand’s luxury orientation and couture roots.
“It’s like putting everything in one store. Today, we are more and more doing big stores because we really want people to experience our universe,” said Sidney Toledano, Dior’s president and CEO. “The only thing missing now is the smell.”
In terms of design, a particular highlight lies in the video section of the site, where more than 80 pieces of content are hosted in a circular slideshow (as pictured below) said to echo the entry rotunda of the brand’s flagship store on the Avenue Montaigne.
Dior is also planning to add a digital magazine, viewable on the web, iPhone and iPad later this year.
With Milan Fashion Week well under way, I wanted to draw attention to Vogue.co.uk’s new Photo Alert sending service.
Users are now able to sign up by email to the spring/summer 2012 shows they’re most interested in seeing to receive notification the moment the images are up.
The launch surrounds the website’s new “season pages”, which feature all of the upcoming shows in one place.
Designed to fill with content whatever size screen you have, the page scrolls alongside a fixed right hand column for advertisers. Entire past seasons are also available.
According to Peter Miller, head of product development & technology at Condé Nast Digital, moving forward, these pages will also contain beautiful editorial descriptions of the show and trend highlights from each season, as well as what was big in fashion news at the time.
Michael Kors has launched a new HTML5 lifestyle site, which along with offering users access to full e-commerce functionality, centres around offering exclusive content and insight into the world of the designer.
Destination Kors, was created in partnership with New York-based agency, VMG Creative, and is curated by Michael Kors himself.
It hosts never-before-seen videos including those of the designer’s trips around the world, behind-the-scenes on his runway shows, and the premiere of his 30th anniversary celebration, starring celebrities such as Jennifer Hudson, Mary J Blige and Debra Messing.
“I am so excited to have an online destination that can serve as the home to everything this brand is about,” said Kors. “With Destination Kors, I can create engaging, interactive content for my customers and fans. I can also showcase who I am and what I represent in the fashion and lifestyle space on a digital level.”
There is also a personal scrapbook highlighting the designer’s current inspirations and images from his trips, while fans of Project Runway are able to get the inside scoop on what Kors thinks of the competing designers each week.
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