SS18 Fashion Week That Is Taking The Lead

Designer Fashion influences the retail landscape at a consumer level. Much like in the film The Devil Wears Prada, when the evil boss Miranda explains to her fashion-averse assistant Andy, how the very decisions they make in that room, flow all the way down to the very sweater she was wearing. The explanation she gave was more truth than fiction.

While the average person cannot afford high fashion, what they go on to purchase at lower brand or discount stores comes from the seasonal creations of designers.

Therefore, it is imperative for retailers and brands to draw their runway inspirations in line with customer aspirations if they wish to succeed.

Social media, though a cluttered space, plays an important role in updating the news from the Fashion world. Therefore, Social listening becomes an instrumental tool to get initial customer feedback. We will be taking initial readings from some of these tools to understand –

Which SS18 Fashion week is taking the Lead among customers?

While SS18 Fashion Week for women is currently being hosted across various fashion destinations, let’s take a look at what search trends have to say about them –  Globally and in India.

WORLDWIDE SEARCH TRENDS

Fashion week: September 2017 when compared to the same time last year globally, shows a dramatic decline in search data for New York fashion week. London Fashion week has risen marginally, while Fashion week is yet to happen in Paris. On the other hand, Milan Fashion week happening as we speak has retained its place with regards to curiosity steadily, season after season.

INDIA SEARCH TRENDS

In India, NYFW has seen a similar decline and LFW has taken the top spot. Also, search trends predict Paris and Milan are likely to be more sought after this season.

Let’s also take a look at web analytics for some of the fashion week sites. A comparison of the official pages show London Fashion Week more visited, thus followed. This was driven through engagement on Social networks like Instagram and Facebook, in addition to NYFW’s Pinterest and Twitter.

Early 2017 Fashion week case study shows that Facebook and Twitter posts with NYFW witnessed 39x more interactions than posts with LFW. This could have been because NYFW top mentions came from celebrities whereas LFW top promoted was by bloggers and lifestyle media.

However, things are looking a bit different now. London Fashion Week, through its diverse popularity on social, is in line with New York.

For British Fashion brands, Instagram has become the topmost account for engagement, becoming a hot topic on social media during Fashion Weeks. When comparing 2016 to 2017, Topshop has kept their number one place, taking their crown for a total number of interactions. Burberry hired David Beckham’s now 17-year-old son to photograph their latest campaign because of his close to 6 million followers on Instagram. The ‘see now/buy now’ model has also given LFW a chance to rise & influence the global market.

A relatable yet aspirational social communication approach has built a connection between Top UK fashion houses & customers. This could be a reason for the decline in the popularity of NYFW.

At Stylumia’s Insights Editor, we are constantly looking for a shift in patterns of consumer trends with regard to fashion in SS18 Fashion Weeks. Real-time insights from Runway and social keep us up-to-date with fashion news and seasonal design validations.

Stay tuned in for more such updates from the SS18 Fashion Week diaries during the weeks to come.