The London Fashion Week is set to start on Friday months after the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which took an immense toll on the fashion and retail sectors.
But in an interview with Yahoo news, Caroline Rush, Head of the British Fashion Council, said the event was “back with a vengeance” after the pandemic’s disruptions.
The London Fashion Week will be a digital-physical hybrid event, with many brands streaming talks and collections online.
Virtual Experiences in Fashion
The benefits of a hybrid event are clear as they can reach global audiences easily and track digital engagement, with virtual reality (VR) solutions offering consumers a new way to engage with brands.
Luxury fashion brand Prada has previously designed multiple VR experiences for customers to connect to its brand through immersive applications available for download on Apple and Oculus devices.
This year, the Italian brand presented its Spring-Summer and Autumn-Winter collections with immersive 360 degree VR experiences.
The collection’s theme of “Change and Transformation, and Opening Possibilities” became a fitting mantra for the firm’s forward-thinking vision of reaching consumers via cross reality (XR) technologies.
Additionally, the luxury fashion line partnered with digital twin and spatial data firm Matterport at the Milan Fashion Week last year to film and present a virtual showroom of Prada’s 2020 menswear lineup.
Working With Matterport
James Morris-Manuel, Matterport’s EMEA Managing Director explained to XR Today in a statement how the partnership helped the firm showcase its catalogue and reach customers at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Prada used Matterport to create a digital twin of its showroom to debut its menswear collection. By doing so, they were able to overcome the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions and still get the collection in front of those that needed to see it”
The pandemic forced many retailers to find new ways of reaching customers as many high street shops were hit by lockdown restrictions and others sought to continue business online.
James added,
“We are reminded how competitive the retail industry is. In the fast-moving sector, one of the most important rules for success is to differentiate and get ahead of the curve”
Despite the lifting of lockdown restrictions, many retailers continue to invest XR technologies as the potential for improved customer engagement and satisfaction continues to reveal positive results.
Mr Morris-Manuel concluded, stating retailers should “take inspiration from the likes of Prada” who were able to “bring the experience of a real-life fashion show to people across the world, virtually.”
He said,
“With fashion and retail industries in constant flux, and consumers expectations constantly shifting, retailers need to look for innovative ways to engage consumers”
The news comes as Taiwanese tech giant HTC VIVE developed tools to promote the music industry by providing virtual spaces for concerts on its Beatday VR platform.
The Taoyuan City-based tech firm also partnered with Japanese VR software developers Psychic VR Lab to unveil its STYLY cloud service, which aims to host and promote MR spaces for content creators.
