Interested in fashion weeks? Prepare to be social media bombarded starting from tomorrow when the shows kick off for another season in New York.
Twitter’s live streaming tool, launched in March 2015, started gaining ground with the fashion set during both the menswear and resort shows earlier this summer. For September, brands including Hunter,
Caroline Issa, fashion director of Tank and Because magazines, and herself a style icon, used the app heavily during menswear weeks in June and intends to again in New York. “Periscope allows true consumer access to the best in fashion month – I would have loved to have watched my favorite fashion editor’s point of view at the show when I was 17, and now anyone can,” she says. “It means a wonderful inclusion and access to what was [once] truly exclusive - it’s a step closer to the action.”
Marc Jacobs on Periscope for Resort 2016.
The team at Twitter are referring to the use of Periscope during fashion weeks as #fashionunfiltered. It’s about real access and no editing, which likely makes it one of the most authentic views of what it’s really like to attend. “Periscope is like a teleportation device, it can take us into another world,” says Georgina Parnell, head of fashion at Twitter UK. “It’s all about giving people a view or an experience they’ve never had before.”
Periscope currently sees 40 years of content viewed on it everyday, with fashion reportedly one of the most popular subjects. Marc Jacobs used it to showcase his resort 2016 collection, even hosting a live Q&A session with the designer himself thereafter. Burberry similarly took to it during its menswear show in June, capturing different segments of content as the event rolled out during the day. Even Donatella Versace has appeared on it – in bed no less.
Brands are on board for the upcoming season too. In London, Hunter will be using the live streaming app to host a series of mobile gigs featuring numerous different bands under the #beaheadliner hashtag, tying neatly into its association with music festivals.
Desigual in New York meanwhile is preparing to arm one of its models with a Periscope stream in hand as she walks down the catwalk – providing a true first person view of what it’s like to appear in a show. Tommy Hilfiger is also planning something.
Twitter is keen to emphasise Periscope as an additional tool and not a replacement for the traditional live stream. That professional shot down the catwalk still has a place in the marketing stack for fashion weeks, says Parnell. That said, doing so isn’t a cheap endeavor – for many designers, a live stream is included as part of their show package these days, but done independently it can reportedly cost anywhere in the region of $20,000 to $50,000, depending on the production requirements. On average New York shows only get circa 14,000 views too (that figure is lower again for London). Periscope in comparison, is of course free.
Ralph Lauren however is merging both ideas with a big staging of its New York show on London’s Piccadilly Circus billboards in partnership with Periscope. David Lauren, executive vice president of global advertising, marketing and corporate communications at the brand, told WWD: “There are [an estimated] two million or so people passing through Piccadilly each week, and very few of them probably expected a front row seat to New York Fashion Week.”
Periscope itself currently has in the region of 10 million users, while Ralph Lauren has 1.3 million Twitter followers (Periscope can automatically appear in a user’s Twitter feed to help increase reach), meaning viewers will likely be far more global than that too. “One of the most compelling and engaging elements of social media is the ‘shared experience’, knowing that someone in Japan is seeing the same thing as someone in London or New York at the same time actually makes the world seem a more intimate place,” Lauren added.
It’s on that basis Twitter recommends using Periscope to showcase fun tidbits that can really convey the fashion week experience, whether that’s chatting to the designer, showcasing models being made up, or admiring the shoes everyone is wearing on the front row – even if the result is more amateur.
Issa agrees: “I think Periscope accounts that will be able to provide the most interesting access and point of view will be the most popular. I’ve always believed that quality should reign over quantity, and that will take a while to filter into everyone’s usage – it’s also the reason why I don’t Periscope my breakfast, my workout or my walks to work – I’d rather share interesting, professional moments that I think an audience might appreciate if they are interested in fashion, the business of fashion and the creative industry.”
In general, Periscope provides an opportunity for content that can’t be found elsewhere already. The circus outside the fashion week tents and the paparazzi dash around street style stars is likely to be one category particularly showcased this season, Twitter expects.
Snapchat too is likely to see increased usage once again this season based on a similar model of providing live access to the action from a new, documentary style perspective. Issa for instance, will be using both (not to mention Instagram and Twitter), while there will also be two "official" NYFW Snapchat Stories on Sunday and Wednesday.
But an appealing feature of Periscope otherwise is the fact it enables user interaction. Viewers can post comments on the stream in real-time, allowing those filming to respond, react and alter their content path accordingly. Some of the better content this season is thus likely to include genuine access to designers and influencers sharing candid insights based on what the viewer actually wants to see. The selfie mode will reach new heights accordingly. “That’s what makes it an authentic experience,” says Parnell.
Again, it’s about that raw, unfiltered access; yet another step on in democratizing the fashion week experience.
