Front row at fashion week is no longer reserved especially for the industry’s most influential buyers and celebrity clientele. It’s not even exclusively reserved for the hottest teenage bloggers or members of the press. Fashion week is now accessible to us all, through the advent of livestreaming technology. Over the past few seasons, the amount of brands to livestream their shows has grown exponentially, and alongside it the number of platforms available.
From high fashion video production companies to actual broadcast platforms, everyone seems to be “livestreaming” from fashion week. A multitude of calendars exist with links to watch live or view reruns. Some platforms seem to be more centric to their city of origin, while others are being utilized across the major fashion week locations. For brands, deciding if you should stream, how to do it and where the video ultimately lives is an important decision. Here, Fashion’s Collective provides a look at some of the most utilized platforms this fashion week:
Livestream has become one of the most popular platforms, securing the broadcast of Milk Made LIVE (read our recap here), Vena Cava, Sophie Theallet, Alexander Wang, Richard Chai, Altuzarra, and Preen. Brands can house the video on livestream.com as well as on their own website (where livestream hosts and serves the video content and the brand website simply pulls this in via programming code).
However, Livestream offers three different partnership models that brands should consider as they impact branding and the overall experience. More specifically, the most cost-effective solution includes sponsored commercials. While this solution is free, it may not be the best for a fashion brand concerned about controlling their image. In one example, before watching a high-end fashion show, I was forced to watch a commercial for Dawn hand soap. When a fashion brand spends the time and resources on executing a perfect show, commercial content that is out of context can detract from the overall experience. The two other models come more highly recommended as they do not carry any ad-supported content. Of these, the partnership model incorporates subtle Livestream branding while the white label option has no visible Livestream association.
A fashion magazine that publishes in real time, Now Fashion, was the broadcast partner for Gucci, Alberta Ferretti, Fendi, MaxMara and Prada. Subscription, though free, is required. While some shows have livestreaming video, others have live static photos, posted on location. The result is a content hub that feels very fashion-forward and curated. Reviews are included, which helps support a solid content offering.
A usual suspect when brands and individuals alike think of posting video content, YouTube provided access to a specific channel, adequately named Live from the Runway. Included were real-time videos of shows, behind the scenes access, and designer-specific content, all presented by Maybelline. This provided a great focal point for Fashion Week on a platform that is top of mind; the only drawback (or added bonus) is the association with another brand (Maybelline).
The fashion bible’s online extension, Style.com, is a good go-to source for authoritative content from the perspective of an expert. In terms of livestreaming though, Style.com simply offers live video coverage for select shows (Jil Stuart, Thakoon, Derek Lam) with a prompt to check back later for event coverage and reviews.
One of the most socially adept executions was London Fashion Week TV, which offered livestreaming with the ability to write comments, like and share content. The site offers different “channels” of content, all surrounding London Fashion week, including LFW highlights, catwalk videos, and London Fashion Award coverage and fashion films. LFWTV presented relevant content and location-specific fashion information that went beyond Fashion Week.
Also abroad, Camera Moda, an Italian based site, featured livestreaming, events calendars, Milan Fashion week party coverage, etc. However, the site design and functionality left much to be desired. In addition, there was no sharing capability to foster a sense of community or prompt viral distribution.
One of the most impressive platforms, in terms of social capability, design, functionality and usability was BigLive, a platform used by DKNY this past Fashion Week. BigLive is typically a platform used for live events, like music concerts, where site visitors can browse both live and past events, and view and post instant comments, sharing with the community. Lala Lopez, a new contributor to Fashion’s Collective, published a great write-up on her personal site (click here to read).
And last, but certainly not least, was First Comes Fashion, dubbed as “your live front row seat.” The home of videos from Perry Ellis and BCBG MaxAzria, this platform plans to cover all major cities and includes editorial content, designer profiles and interviews. This is a great starting place, and a more robust content offering will help build this up as a destination.
Other brands elected to drive all traffic to their website directly, or to their Facebook page. As the livestreaming trend continues, we expect other platforms to continue to emerge and the existing platforms to improve.
Author: Elizabeth Schofield
Copy-editor: Gina Conforti
Photo credits:
