It’s no longer just buyers who are given first dibs on the seasonal collections. It’s not uncommon to see influential bloggers wearing the more street style baity pieces just days after a collection has left the runway, and it doesn’t take much longer to figure out which coats you’re already going to be sick of by the time they’re available in stores.
But what if you don’t have 100,000 followers on Instagram or a salary from Barneys? You can either sleep on the choice to fork out $900 for a new skirt, or you can get as impulsive as your credit card limit will allow on IMG and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia’s game-changing new digital boutique.
A first for the IMG family, the e-commerce component reflects fashion’s “see now, buy now” attitude by allowing consumers in Sydney to click on select pieces of designer collections as they’re live-streamed down the runway. Do it from the runway room at Carriageworks, from your CBD office, from as far away as New York City or Paris, or from your phone by tweeting “SHOPTHERUNWAY” to @MBFWBoutique in order to see all the pieces available at that time – so be the powers of the Internet. There will also be a pop-up store in the Hub for people who want to see what the pieces look like on people who aren’t 16 years old and six feet tall.
“The initiative helps convert consumer interest into commercial outcomes for our designers, and provides an added value and measurable benefit of staging their MBFW show,” claims Catherine Bennett, SVP and Managing Director of IMG Fashion Events and Properties. “As IMG Fashion’s global offerings evolve, it’s important to us that we continue to provide designers with the necessary tools to reach the industry and to also engage the customer in the early stages of a collection’s lifespan.”
Is it an initiative we’ll see tested out at fashion month this September? Don’t count on scoring any new-season Céline that way, but for smaller designers, the financial benefits could make the decision to hold a runway show a not completely foolish one.
So far you can shop from designers including Phoenix Keating, Leroy Nguyen, Kahlo, Ginger & Smart and Jayson Brunsdon, with more being added by the hour.
