Covid-19 has prevented many events from happening, this does not mean, however, that an event cannot take place online.
Shanghai Fashion Week has showed this by taking its catwalk in the Cloud and WeAr reports. Shanghai Fashion Week (SFW) has teamed up with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s online marketplace Tmall to broadcast the agenda of runway shows online from March 24th – 30th on Taobao Live, which is Alibaba’s live-streaming channel. This has been done in an effort to make SFW accessible to buyers, media and the general public through digital innovation in face of the (almost world-wide) coronavirus lock-down. Online viewers were also meant to be able to directly place orders and interact with the hosts. Tmall is according to reports the biggest marketplace for businesses that live stream, this includes small to big labels. There are 400 virtual shopping rooms which roughly achieve monthly sales of USD$57 million. On the face of it, this is a powerful partner to team up with the fashion cowd. That said, viewer numbers ranged from 12k (FFIXXED) to 5k (Cornerstone by Sun Yun). Of course this is a first, honorable, attempt to digitalise a Fashion Week completely so it remains to be seen what the real outcomes are, mainly financially.
When people watch the SFW brands’ AW20 presentations they can buy through Tmall’s app, however important to note is that you can only buy the SS20 stock, which of course is in line of how fashion works. Buyers, of course, could simply contact the brand in case of interest.
The bigger problem is that whilst on mainland China it mainly worked well in terms of technology, outside of it, there are issues: starting from guidelines which were ambiguous, time differences which will not allow to see a live stream, to log-in issues to language barriers as Tmall is mainly in Mandarin and even with Chrome’s built in translation of websites, it is a tough one to get through it.
Whilst the intro videos are high-end, the presentations themselves of course are of lower quality. This of course speaks to the individual end-consumer, but does it reflect the general theme of fashion? At WeAr we believe that we need to find a way to better connect with the end-consumer, however the appeal of the industry must not be forgotten. As only then you can sell a high-end (and – priced) item.
In terms of demographics, it was of course squewed towards millenials and Gen Z viewers. However, this reflects also that it is mainly an end-consumer event and leaves little room for professional buyers. Although the stretch is not far to include him/her.
But: Are Fashion Weeks not there to inform the industry and the industry carries it then to the end-consumer, at a time when the end-consumer can actively purchase? To create the mystic, glamour and exclusivity around fashion so to awaken a need, desire in the consumer and ultimately the much-needed demand?
Other trade shows are of course also trying to take it digital: KingPins Amsterdam, the famed show for the denim industry, which unites fabric producers, mills, chemical companies and innovators to designers and brands was meant to take place this April. Instead it decided to launch a 2-day digital event to host talks and bring the industry together. They seem to place a focus on trend talks. The need to do something new is important, with or without the virus, events need to find a formula to digitalise their events.
However, this too is a novel concept and it must remain to be seen if the industry accepts it. After all factories are closed at the moment, brands had to close their operations. Even online retailers like Yoox, Net-a-Porter have closed their UK warehouse and halted deliveries to stop the spread of the virus. Is there a need to prepare right now for a season still far in the future, or is there a bigger need to adapt the fashion schedule to please manufacturers, designers, retailers and ultimately also the end-consumer who does not go on a shopping spree right now, on- or offline. But nothing beats a try and in the end, only if one dares one will succeed. The users and their feedback as well as monetary results will show the success rate.
WeAr will be monitoring the situation and revert with updates on www.wearglobalnetwork.com. It also filled its March edition (issue 62) with useful tips and information for buyers and brands, which is available to purchase digitally and in print in the bookstore of www.wearglobalnetwork.com. If you have any views, ideas and comments, please e-mail to sv@wear-magazine.com
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