John Galliano: ‘I Didn’t Even Know What E-commerce Was Until Last Week’
Amusing interview with JG showing his apparent disregard for “machinery” and his surprise at having 30,000 “calls” on Twitter. Clearly he’s hamming it up but it does raise an interesting point about the disparity that often exists between creators and the way their products are exposed and sold.
The best way to predict the future is to create it. Net-a-Porter’s Natalie Massanet speaks.
Natalie Massanet, founder and chairperson of highly successful luxury fashion etailer, Net-a-Porter, offers up a fascinating insight into the world of eCommerce at the recent Fashion Pioneers event, hosted by Business of Fashion.
As Net-a-Porter celebrates its tenth birthday in 2010 and is acquired by Swiss luxury group, Richemont for $350 million, Massanet discusses the importance of understanding and being where your consumer is “Technology and the consumer are changing so quickly. Women are working, they are making their own money; by moving the store to the desk, we were able to create the future of shopping. But today, building a website is no longer enough. The consumer is in the back of a cab, with her iPhone or her Blackberry, on her iPad, she’s tweeting an outfit that her friend is wearing and desperately trying to find out where she got her shoes online. Part of creating the future is to follow this consumer.”
You can watch the interview in full here, filmed at Net-a-Porter HQ, Westfield, London earlier this month.
To view the newly unveiled Net-a-Porter magazine iPad app, click here
Most Influential Fashion Bloggers
Great piece here by Fashionista.com on the most highly prized editorial influencers in the fashion blogging community. All the usual suspects are here with accompanying lowdown. Great resource if you’re getting to grips with who’s who.
Top 10 Luxury Sites Don’t Work On iPad
PSFK published an article today which covers their research in to the Top 10 luxury sites compatibility with iPad. Not a great result – only Gucci passed. Why? Well obviously due to their dependence on Flash, a technology that Steve Jobs has outlawed in both the iPad and iPhone. While this decision is controversial it can’t be ignored by the luxury sector. The iPad is just about to launch in major luxury markets markets like Japan, where iPhone penetration is 46%. The lag time in not embracing the technology could cost dearly. Let’s hope this isn’t a reflection of past trends the luxury industry has been slow to embrace.
Pokeware & Video Hotspotting
Following on from our last piece, there are some interesting developments around video hotspotting that could have major implications for fashion and luxury industries. Essentially they ustilise the engagement of video and link it to ecom. Pokeware is one of the players which is gunning specifically for fashion. As this demo on Dazed illustrates, there is still some way to go (static links as opposed to dynamic real-time). It’s a space that is going to hot up dramatically in the coming months. BoF have done a nice piece on it here.
Lagerfeld for Coke Light
A very neat collaboration here for both parties. Although this isn’t strictly digital luxury it demonstrates a very modern approach to brand platforms. Coke benefits from the huge cache Karl brings to it along with his self-professed addiction to the fizzy beverage, and Karl continues to do one of the things he has done beautifully throughout his career, which is create accessible entry points to high end brands.
Not only has Karl designed the bottle, but he also shot the ad campaign. Details are the bottle is made of aluminium and comes neatly boxed with a bottle opener, available at Collette. This is not the first designer collaboration Coke Light has undertaken, but it may well prove to be their most significant.
The DNA of Luxury
In an arguably misguided attempt to protect itself from counterfeit, one unidentified European luxury brand has taken the measure of including genetic material in certain products. Applied DNA Sciences uses botanical DNA for the sole purpose of identifying counterfeiting. The DNA is incorporated in to glue, fabrics or dyes. ADNAS picks up a fee for each mark purchased and an additional fee for every identification. Sounds like a great business model, but is it where luxury brands are headed?
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