If you want to learn more about the latest fashion communication actions read this article to find out what luxury and streetwear brands are doing this season to keep up with fashion.
Fashion communications is a vast field for innovation and the development of new experimental tools to engage audiences worldwide. A closed communication strategy is no longer in fashion, as digital channels provide a wider possibility to make international digital events, and clients can start social media conversations around the brand’s latest collection immediately after launching.
In a world where full pandemic recovery has not yet been achieved, the fashion industry is making hybrid attempts to do things differently, creating experiences between digitalization and physical gatherings to provide a fresh message, avoiding “business as usual” fashion communications.
If you have a small brand or project, you can find inspiration for your fashion communication strategy in this article besides analyzing the most creative actions of this season so far.
Dear Creative Director, I Am Going to Hack Your Brand
Forget about collaborations as the ultimate fashion strategy. This season, Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele, did a “hacking” creative exercise with high fashion brand Balenciaga, with the total approval of his Creative Designer Demna Gvasalia. The result was a mashup of silhouettes, logos, and iconic pieces from both fashion houses, a parade inside a video film where the main objective was the celebration of Gucci’s 100th anniversary and a tribute to his founder Guccio Gucci. The mix of heritage with provocative and a peacock outsider aesthetic has been the trademark of Michele’s conceptualization for the Florentine brand. Gucci Aria (Air) has 7.4M page views on YouTube with a “hacking lab made of incursions and metamorphoses”. For Michele, Aria meant “a deep and ecstatic diving in everything we yearningly miss today…a jubilee of breath”. For creative inspiration, beware the fashion hackers.
The Battle of Fake Runways Versus Magnanimous Fashion Events
Fashion communication events have been split between two main categories: the return of over-the-top presentations, and the no-audience pre-recorded runways. Resort collections took the lead selecting spectacular locations to host the event. Louis Vuitton filmed a runway at Axe Majeur, an architectural masterpiece near Pariscreated by the Israeli artist Dani Karavan and Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill. The Dior Cruise show took place at the Panathenaic Stadium, an icon in Greek culture and cult place for the Olympics. On the other hand, “fake runways” are trending; a format championed by Balenciaga, Y/Project, or Hermès Paris, to name a few.
From Europe With Love: Books, and Postcards for Waking-up Your Imagination
The physical materials, or at least its aesthetic evocation are still in fashion, as well as traveling as a source for inspiration. Belgian designer Dries Van Noten presented “Greetings from Antwerp ”, a video shooting showcase portraying key places around the city. In addition, he created social media “postcards” as a campaign image. Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson presented a box containing a slipcase with two books, four posters featuring artwork by Florian Krewer, David Sims photography, and the look book images for men’s and women’s collections. For Anderson, “Party in a Box” message was an “electrifying escapism of hope and optimism” .
Video Art Narratives, Look Books, and Fashion Gifs
Video Art and Fashion Film are still in the Top 5 of fashion communication actions. Prada’s latest collection was filmed in Milan at the Fondazione Prada’s Deposito, the show represents a transition between a tunnel, an urban atmosphere, to end in the Sardinia’s Sea, a natural one. “An uncanny summer escape, concluding in a space where nature and artifact interact”, according to the brand, in a stunning set design by OMA. British designer Richard Quinn presented an opulent video art story showcasing an outstanding fashion narrative, his aesthetic codes, and impressive music soundtrack starring Underworld’s Born Slippy, and Diana Summer’s I Feel Love. On the other hand, Balmain’s animated gifs proposed a hybrid between animation and still photography.
Billboard Fashion, a New York’s Original
Marc Jacobs is back in the game with a fashion runway held under the grand arches of the New York Public Library. The designer teamed up with Bergdorf Goodman, another New York fashion institution, to broadcast and project the show on the building’s façade. “Our exclusive partnership with Bergdorf’s will allow us to offer our customer an unparalleled qualitative approach to owning the runway”, a brand statement on the show notes. Jacobs presented an intimate yet powerful fashion presentation. “Happiness”-the show’s title-, is a journey back to creativity and transcendent moments of joy, “through the physicality of this shared experience, I hope to offer a moment of inspiration, curiosity, wonder, and possibility”, stated Marc Jacobs.
Innovation, original ideas, and creative experimentation are the “new normal” in fashion communication strategies, as season after season, fashion designers still dare to think outside of the box.
Do you want to learn more about this topic? Find more in the Marketing and Communications for Fashion & Luxury Brands program.