Fashion will have a meaning & a story behind substance
15 Mar '12
3 min read
Lakmé Fashion Week this season witnessed an interesting seminar on Creative Entrepreneurship a knowledge sharing session on the Indian Textile Day at LFW Summer/Resort 2012. The session was conducted by Stefan Siegel, CEO: NOT JUST A LABEL (NJAL), a popular website that features around 8018 designers from 92 countries. This seminar was part of an initiative by LFW that demonstrated to Indian designers the scope to move onto an international scene through more unconventional marketing modes.
Sharing an interesting presentation, Stefan said, “We discover and support pioneers in contemporary fashion, create a platform to showcase designers and buyers and have managed to do so in three years. Today fashion is democratized and is not exclusive because of the web. From creation, to selling a piece is a matter of mere hours,” he stated.
Talking about the on-line shop which was started in 2009 Stefan said, “It is a direct link between shoppers and designers. We have worked with celebs like Lara stone, Paris Hilton and Lady Gaga who selected 50 products from different designers which were put online for sale, each month. This in turn helped designers to connect directly with customers since they dispatch the items.”
Stefan informed the gathering that 55% people in Europe searched for fashion on the internet in 2011 and over 30% buy clothes on the net. “This is a huge market and on-line retail marketing has grown by 150% since 2005 and increases 25% per annum.” Statistics show that U$ 23 billion were spent on 2 million tonnes of clothing in UK and 50% of this goes to UK landfill. So Stefan advised it would be wise to buy one great outfit which can be timeless than go for many cheap ones.
Sharing some more information, Stefan revealed that 2010 and 2011 were phenomenal years for luxury business. The value for money has become a fundamental driver of luxury in these two years. The emerging markets are Brazil, Russia, India and Middle East. “Retail is over performing wholesale and it will be the mega trend for the future. The web is democratic. Today, consumers are seeking style with substance and are looking for a story behind the products. So fashion needs to have a meaning and a story to tell.”
But he cautioned that whether on-line or off-line, individual curation of product ranges is very important. “There are many free platforms for social media, so use it to advantage.”
The other ways of reaching the customer is through editorializing the designers. Fashion films also have a global reach and sharing a film on YouTube is a new way of connection for designers. Live streams of shows and fashion films have a global infinite reach and are viral.
Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) is jointly organized by Lakmé, the No.1 cosmetics and beauty services brand in India and IMG Reliance, the global leader in sports and entertainment event marketing and management. LFW has been conceived and created with a vision to “Redefine the future of fashion and Integrate India into the global fashion world”. LFW is organized twice every year. LFW Winter/Festive 2012 will be held from August 3 to August 7, 2012 at Grand Hyatt Hotel, Mumbai.
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