Lights, camera, action! New York just wrapped up its biggest fashion event of the season, NYC Fashion Week 2016. Designers, models, and marketers lined the streets preparing and presenting the most exciting brands in fashion for their up and coming Fall and Winter 2016 collections. At the forefront of the action, we were able to have an inside look as one of our team members toured the event, attended fashion shows and glittering parties, soaking in all of the fashion marketing that one could feast their eyes on. Here are a few of the highlights spotted in marketing and technology.

DIGITAL DISPLAY

It’s no surprise that digital enterprise display played a big role in the Fashion 2016 presentation. Marketing has gone smart, and display screens as wide as the room are surprisingly easy to set up, and are a vehicle capable of making an impression to large groups in a big way (in more than one way). We spotted displays as small as coffee table, to larger than most apartment walls in NYC. They were used by sponsors reeling short marketing clips of their latest products, and by the brands themselves as digital backdrops with logos in motion and inspiration setting the mood for their own branded identity.

OUTDOOR ADVERTISEMENTS

On the streets of New York, in some places you can still spot remnants of outdoor advertisements. Light posts were lined up and down the streets of the most popular fashion hubs, announcing the presence of NYC fashion week custom printed post flags, calling attendees to action by including the social media tag #NYCFW. Other outdoor advertisements spotted included bus booths, billboards, vehicle wraps, and localized transit displays.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Not only was the hashtag #NYCFW promoted to the enth degree throughout various media, the Fashion Week Online live broadcasting site with updates and photos actually includes a real time Instagram feed for the tag centered on their page navigation as a highlight of their fashion marketing. Here, anyone from attendees, to brands, to onlookers are encouraged to make their mark by including the tag in their relevant posts for all fashion fans to see. NYCFW has playfully used the marketing catch phrase:

“Yep, your #NYFW-tagged Instagrams will auto-magically appear here, for the world to see. And follow us @FashionWeekOnline.” – Fashion Week Online

PRINT MEDIA

A blatant display declaring that print media isn’t dead – flyers, brochures, event schedules and more could be seen littering the premise of each NYCFW event, aside from the more obvious large-scale outdoor printed materials mentioned above. Brands hosting shows often left token bags and leaflets as a small momentum of the occasion on each and every seat. Publication industries had representatives lined on the streets handing out large scale fashion magazines to eager hands excited to flip through the latest trends between shows and at their event seats. Some innovative business card solutions were also seen with anything from plastics to silk-printed cloth cards.With the fashion industry producing $887 million in economic activity, there is no slight in marketing dollars and innovations according to CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America). And the average annual events generate close to $900 million in total economic impact, hosting over 230,00 people. Overall, the fashion marketing industry put its finest foot forward (catwalk style) as could be expected for such an incredibly publicized and financially backed event. Every avenue was explored from enterprise displays to printed leaflets and digital advertising in this season’s series of shows. We saw wall-sized digital displays, virtual reality entertainment systems, outdoor advertisements, a plethora of print media, and a huge push for social media interaction.

2015-nycfw-digital-media
Image Source: www.vogue.com

DIGITAL MEDIA

Aside from the big enterprise displays, digital media also made a distinct presents from short commercials to projection displays at the events themselves. And of course, as a hugely publicized event, the internet was flooded with digital ads, live streaming, and blog posts galore.

ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY

From the entertainment side, our teammate was able to catch a party hosted by Bloglovin’ and sponsored by Ferragamo – who took advantage of a projection display in the ritzy Box NYC venue for a new movie-like introduction to Ferragamo’s latest fragrance.

The main hall for the event also opted for entertaining fashionista’s children with a virtual reality gaming experience, where children waited in line not-so patiently to get a chance at escaping their parent’s fashion vice to be hooked up to cables and headgear immersing them into a digital universe of artificial existence.

With the fashion industry producing $887 million in economic activity, there is no slight in marketing dollars and innovations according to CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America). And the average annual events generate close to $900 million in total economic impact, hosting over 230,00 people. Overall, the fashion marketing industry put its finest foot forward (catwalk style) as could be expected for such an incredibly publicized and financially backed event. Every avenue was explored from enterprise displays to printed leaflets and digital advertising in this season’s series of shows. We saw wall-sized digital displays, virtual reality entertainment systems, outdoor advertisements, a plethora of print media, and a huge push for social media interaction.

2016-nycfw-vehicle-wrap-outdoor-marketing

Image Source: www.vogue.com

Did you attend the show? Do you work in the fashion industry? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below regarding the movement in fashion marketing and technology, and how you plan to integrate them into your own business strategy for 2016.