Virtual Platforms

THE NEW NORMAL OF BUYING?

Esther Stein / Jana Melkumova-Reynolds

WITH NO TRAVEL, SHOWS, TRADE FAIRS OR SHOWROOMS, THIS SUMMER RETAILERS WILL HAVE TO FIND OTHER WAYS TO ORDER FASHION COLLECTIONS. WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?

This summer’s (physical) editions of Berlin’s Premium and Neonyt have been cancelled, Pitti Uomo has cancelled its summer event alltogether after moving it first, Düsseldorf’s Gallery Fashion and Showroom Concept will now start on August 30, and this year’s CPD – now rebranded DFD, for Düsseldorf Fashion Days – will begin on August 8. The fashion calendar has been thrown into disarray, and most trade shows are going digital.

London Fashion Week has followed Shanghai and Moscow’s lead and will be hosting its upcoming editions online. The next LFW, planned for June 12-14, will be a digital, dual-gender platform aimed at industry professionals and end consumers. The schedule will include interviews, podcasts, webinars and digital showrooms, where designers can showcase their S/S collections to retailers and their current lines to the public.

A similar platform is in the offing with Pitti Connect in Florence, which retailers should be able to use from June onwards. After initial cancellations, the Milan and Paris menswear shows are now set to go ahead in digital format: Paris Fashion Week Online will run from July 9 to 13, followed by Milano Digital Fashion Week from July 14 to 17. Both events plan to stick to their original show calendar, with each brand given a slot to present using videos and photos. Parisian trade show Tranoi is launching a digital platform in June that will host e-meetings and e-presentations. The sustainable trade show Neonyt is planning a virtual presence, too. And Premium Exhibitions is working on a ‘Blended Fashion Event’ that will combine the strengths of live events with the possibilities of the digital marketplace.

The same trend is palpable in Asia. “In March, we decided to use Tencent Meeting and Ding Talk to establish a communication and trading platform for exhibitors and buyers, CHIC ONLINE, and hold online match-making and seminars,” Chen Dapeng, President at China National Garment Association, tells WeAr.

The sector is divided as to whether industry professionals will be taken by virtual fashion shows and trade fairs. Anita Tillmann, Managing Partner at Premium, is wary of hasty reactions: “Although there is plenty that can be done digitally nowadays, it’s no substitute for people actually coming together.” Until some sort of normality returns, she recommends the wholesale platform Joor, which connects around 8,600 brands from 53 categories with 190,000 stores in 144 countries. Since March, Joor has also been offering 360-degree images in partnership with ORDRE, the technology provider. Videos are in the works to meet buyers’ needs. For retailers familiar with or already stocking the brands on offer, Joor might be the right port of call.

The first Digital Fashion Week held by B2B platform Fashion Cloud aims to virtually recreate the trade show experience. The digital fashion show is set to include shared livestreams and individual brand sessions where labels can present their collections to a select audience. During and after the trade show, retailers can view videos of the live events at digital ‘stands’, while 3D images and additional information allow them to gain an overview of the brand’s offering. The three-day event takes place from July 14 and is free for retailers.

For those who want the online experience to be as close as possible to a real-life showroom, B2B digital wholesale platform BrandLab Fashion has developed a technology to recreate brand showrooms using virtual reality. Unlike some other platforms that are essentially brand directories with e-commerce style product listings, BrandLab designs replicas of brands’ physical spaces in a 3D digital format with the use of immersive technology and provides integrated real-time voice or video communication linked to live ordering facilities to keep and build those important personal relationships. 360-degree imagery and catwalk videos are complemented with a seamless user experience design that allows for multibrand buying with one click.

A few showrooms are setting up one-to-one showcases via video chat, perfect for fielding any queries about the items. Others are offering retailers private on-site visits – following hygiene guidelines, of course – as many will want to see and feel the styles up close. All these solutions obviously can’t replace the hustle and bustle of a trade show – but it’s unlikely to be the only change we’ll have to adapt to this year.