Fashion Icons Shifting To Virtual Fashion Shows?

I love talking about social media is changing the shape of the world, with how we meet new people and potentially a new mate, but primarily to the way business is being conducted. More and more brands are shifting their advertising from traditional outlets to the World Wide Web. Since Less Less is in the business of retail I am constantly researching ways to position our brand online so we can continue to be competitive. In doing this research I came across an interesting discussion that I just had to share with you. Some of the major fashion brands that everyone, especially retailers, looks to for the latest trends and fads are considering moving their big-budgeted fashion shows online in order to cut down on costs.

According to an article published in Retail Wire the cost savings in producing a virtual fashion show as opposed to the lavish traditional shows is monumental. Here is a cool tidbit to put it all into perspective: David Lauren, Marketing Chief at Ralph Lauren stated the iconic brand spends nearly $1.5 million to attract approximately 700 retail buyers and related press. If they were to take that concept online, the production cost drops to $50,000 with an estimation of 40 million page views!!! That is simply incredible, but the question remains whether this shift from traditional fashion shows will prove to be beneficial to a brand over the long term.

I embrace change and I do believe this could be a great marketing tool, however I caution designers out there to take baby steps. Begin with a smaller collection or one of your “baby” lines. On a final note, remember that social media should always be incorporated into a grander offline marketing mix. Studies have shown that completely replying on the web or online marketing has not always been advantageous. Those are my two cents, what do you think?