Digital snippets: Matthew Williamson, Gap, Amazon, Instagram, Wanelo, Tinder

A round-up of the latest stories to know about surrounding all things fashion and tech:

• ‘Is it scalable? I think it has to be,’ Matthew Williamson head of digital on customer acquisition through Instagram [The Drum]

• Gap wagers on location-based ads, Instagram to drive summer foot traffic [Mobile Commerce Daily]

• Amazon launches #AmazonCart (#AmazongBasket), a new way to shop without leaving Twitter [TNW]

• Fashion world sashays to Instagram for brand-building [FT]

• Wanelo profiled: like mall browsing, with a click [NY Times]

• Meet the new wave of Tinder-like shopping apps [Fashionista]

• Stylect, the Tinder for shoes, finds you a perfect pair [Co.Design]

• Study shows prevalence of consumer ‘webrooming’; more people researching online and buying in local stores [AdWeek]

• Tracking is dead: the next wave of wearables is context [re/code]

• Millennial-focused marketers start to dig in to new SnapChat video feature [AdWeek]

• Must see: colour-changing fabric uses heat sensitive technology to react to sound files and its surrounds [PSFK]

SHOWstudio captured and remixed the sound of four SS14 collections being made

I’m somewhat obsessed with the idea of the fashion industry working out how to nail audio branding. I’m not talking about just straight up music partnerships or even the sounds associated with a brand when being in-store, but the noises that personify the clothing or accessories in particular and whether they have the potential to subsequently be owned by an individual label. Food for thought…

It’s for that reason though that I love this initiative from SHOWstudio called The Sound of Clothes: Studio Sessions. The creative editorial site founded by Nick Knight, captured the sounds of Mary Katrantzou, Sibling, Piers Atkinson and Matthew Williamson’s collections being made ahead of their spring/summer 2014 shows this past September.

From the noise of the knitting machines and crochet needles being used, to beads and gems rustling, jersey being ripped, the pattern cutters in action, zips fastening and even models’ heels clicking during fittings, everything was collected, edited and then remixed into four musical tracks (as below) said to give “a unique audio take on the collections and capture the diversity of London Fashion Week”.

Sound artist Stu Sibley worked on the initiative, stretching and manipulating certain sounds so they seem like beats or instruments, while leaving others exactly as they were recorded. Each track is accompanied by abstract 3D visuals based on the runway collections themselves. Concept and direction was by Lou Stoppard and Neal Bryant. 

There’s also a wonderful essay by Maria Echeverri alongside the project that charts the history of sound through dress: “The various instances of sound in dress ranging from the Renaissance to present day hint at the untapped potential of resonant dress, for ultimately, the act of making and hearing noise is implicit in the experience and interpretation of clothing. And by understanding the enlivened dexterity of sound through its past, we can begin to imagine, and hear, its future.”

Vogue promotes new iPhone 5C as major fashion accessory

Vogue is continuing its focus on tech with a series of online editorial shots this week dedicated to the new iPhone 5C. Titled “How About Them Apples: How To Match Your Outfit to the New iPhone 5C“, the post sees the four new shades of the latest Apple phone coordinated with looks from this season’s resort collections.

“We already know we spend an inordinate amount of time with our iPhones—talking to them, sleeping with them under our pillows—and now, it turns out, we can even dress like them,” it reads. “If we were Angela Ahrendts (former Burberry CEO and newly appointed senior vice president of Apple), we might think of incorporating one of the season’s new shades—which include Day-Glo pinks, yellows, greens, and blues—into our first-day-of-work wardrobe.” The models pose in looks from the likes of Nina Ricci, Michael Kors, Versace, Dior, Reed Krakoff and Ralph Lauren.

The initiative seems like a massive advertorial, or Condé Nast’s attempts at sponsored posts (native advertising) à la Buzzfeed, but the lack of any sort of disclaimer suggests otherwise.

In which case, this should be seen as a pretty huge coup for Apple; it is after all just a plastic coloured phone, now cross-promoted on key Vogue properties including its .com site, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Topshop animates nail colours in SS13 video

 

Topshop has released a very cute stop-motion video short to promote its spring/summer 2013 nail colours.

Created by brother and sister filmmaking duo Sadie and Joe Williams, it brings to life a series of nail varnish pots, painted nails and even emery boards.

“Dancing nails in sizzling new season colours as well as statement glittery shades will transport you somewhere tropical!” reads the write-up. Watch it below…

[via AlexLoves]

Mimco invites fans to create personalised digital kaleidoscopes

Australian accessories brand, Mimco, has launched a digital initiative called The Social Kaleidscope, which invites fans to create a personalised piece of artwork merging images from its new collection with their own photographs.

Selecting from three different shapes to fill, they can import pictures from their Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram accounts, and can combine them with Mimco product shots and its Season 2 campaign images starring model Jessica Gomes. They can then share their creations with friends back through social media.

The brand has also enlisted a number of tastemakers to the initiative, such as actress and presenter April-Rose Pengilly, blogger and stylist Micah Gianneli and illustrator Sarah Hankinson.

Below is one we made using a Mimco ring, vintage car from the brand’s campaign images, yellow fixture from one of its bags, a rainbow photographed on a grey day in our own back garden, and an Instagram shot of a turquoise painted wall with international clocks on it! Check it out: