Oscar de la Renta
BURBERRY AND TOM FORD BREAK THE FASHION SYSTEM02.05.2016 | TAGS: BURBERRY,CHRISTOPHER BAILEY, TOM FORD
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Well what a day it has been for the Fashion World!
The whole fashion system is about to reconfigure as Burberry takes another step towards a dramatic change to the way it does business and Tom Ford follows. Announced today both brands will be launching a see-now-buy-imminently collection for both women swear and menswear in September. Consequently both womenswear and menswear will be shown together on the runway twice a year and all of the collections will be available immediately to consumers online and in store. Which ultimately means visual merchandising and campaign will also need to change the second that the collections become available. Therefore Ford’s collection will be available immediately following the Fall-Winter 2016 runway show in September. As for Burberry, the full collection will be available to buy both online and in-store, and digital and print advertising campaigns will be unveiled as soon as the show ends. Mr Ford has cancelled press previews of his 2016 Fall collection which were originally prepared for next week in New York, however these drastic changes that were made and announced today means the Tom Ford collection will be showcased and sold altogether in September. Ford explained the reasoning behind this change: “In a world that has become increasingly immediate, the current way of showing a collection four months before it is available to customers is an antiquated idea and one that no longer makes sense… Our customers today want a collection that is immediately available… Showing the collection as it arrives in stores will remedy this, and allow the excitement that is created by a show or event to drive sales and satisfy our customers’ increasing desire to have their clothes as they are ready to wear them.” His words are true, waiting for a collection to become available after seeing them months before only leads to indecisiveness. It is also never easy explaining the awaited process to someone out of touch with the fashion world, so Bailey and Ford’s idea does make a lot of sense. Even despite the brands budgets and everything that will have to go on behind the scenes for people involved as well as what this change will mean for buyers, editors and journalists. The change that technology brought to the fashion industry was huge, although it seems so distant now of when it came to blow up the fashion industry. However the collaboration between fashion and technology increased awareness of different brands and even helped push sales. One of the masterminds behind fashion and technology is Burberry’s CEO and chief creative officer Christopher Bailey himself, Bailey spent many seasons experimenting and promoting collections through different forms of media with the use of technology, live streaming was a venture that many others followed. One of his latest collaborations with social media sees Bailey collections on the runway through snap-chat. A great tech-mind he is indeed. Bailey’s technical ideas help Burberry as a brand grow, also allowing consumers to really get involved. So who knows what this current shift may bring. As bigger brands like Tom Ford and Burberry evolve where does this leave smaller brands, it is a question of whether they will follow in the footsteps of Ford and Bailey or not as for other brands it will prove difficult to leap into this change as they may not be able to cope financially. But for now it seems as though the entire fashion system is shifting, and an exciting shift it shall be. |