London Fashion Week gets social

Last week, the eyes of the fashion world focused on London as the capital hosted Fashion Week. Fashion Week has always generated news, showcasing the garments that, no matter how ridiculous they look now, we’ll undoubtedly be sporting in six months time. The events themselves however have always presented something of an enigma to me; blurred impressions of undernourished women being ushered in and out of expensive venues. Just like the brands showcased, the events have always been exclusive.

This year however, London Fashion Week got social.

It wasn’t just the rubber skirts and dresses at Burberry Prorsum making the headlines. The all-British brand launched a number of new social media initiatives, confirming its long-held reputation as a trailblazer in the social space. 

From start to finish, the Burberry catwalk was one big assault on social, commencing with The“Burberry Beauty Booth". This promoted backstage interaction with models who were able to share catwalk-ready images in real-time by tweeting with the #BeautyBooth hashtag.

Once fans had seen the models pouting backstage, they then had the opportunity to watch the show itself, live-streamed within Burberry's Twitter feed for the first time. Additional access was provided through two Instagram accounts: @Burberry and the more detailed @Burberry_Live.

As if that wasn’t enough, hard-core Burberry obsessives could prolong the excitement yet further by tweeting with the hashtag #madefor the day after the show. This qualified them to receive an image of their own Burberry nameplate- a new personalisation option for Burberry products launched at LFW.

But this year, Burberry had a rival for the social crown. 

British retailer Topshop and Internet giant Google teamed up to create ‘The Future of the Fashion Show’, a series of interactive experiences designed to bring the show to life.

Fashion’s latest darling Cara Delevingne (bushy eyebrows, dated Harry Styles and falls out of houses at five in the morning. You know the one I mean), was one of three models commissioned to wear miniature HD video cameras to give fans the full 'model cam' experience. The specially adapted Topshop YouTube channel hosted the live-streamed coverage generated from these and from around the show.

After the show a 'Be The Buyer' app let users create mood boards out of individual pieces from the collection. International buyers and Topshop's in-house buying team also gave out video advice and industry tips to aspiring fashionistas.

Burberry and Topshop’s efforts to create and project content may seem slightly excessive when listed, but for once, I find myself congratulating the big brands.

The fashion industry, high-end fashion in particular, has a bad reputation for being bitchy and exclusive. Even if I had the time/ money/ press-pass to attend a LFW event, the prospect of sitting in the same room as Anna Wintour would be enough to drive me from the city.

Burberry and Topshop’s social media efforts are helping to dissolve this impression in a way that benefits the whole industry. They democratise fashion; remembering brand fans that are not rich or famous and recognising their desire and right for inclusion.

Models, like the athletes at the 2012 Olympics are using social media to project their personalities. A fearsome strut and stony-faced pout are not the most endearing qualities, but once you’ve seen them messing around backstage maybe even… grabbing a slice of pizza (gasp), they seem a lot more human consequently elevating them from clothes horses to positive brand ambassadors.

By Polly Robinson