With New York Fashion Week closing out last night, the fashion world is turning its attention to next week’s London Fashion Week. Burberry, arguably one of the UK’s most iconic brands, has announced it is going to give the public an unique way to interact with the new Spring/Summer 2016 collection. In a first-of-its-kind move (we have had a lot of those recently), Burberry will showcase their new looks via Snapchat a day before the runway show. The styles will launch on Sunday at 7pm GMT and will disappear 24 hours later, as the company’s Kensington Garden fashion show starts. During the show, Burberry will also use the app to provide a glimpse behind the scenes. If you just can’t wait, the company’s Snapchat channel is already live (it launched in April of this year) and showing off things such as invitations and guest lists.
Burberry’s Snapchat announcement comes only a few days after we reported that the company had launched the first branded Apple Music channel. Burberry has always embraced technology. They were among the first major designers to embrace both Twitter and Instagram (live tweeting their SS2012 show), utilize touch screen displays in their stores, explore using RFIDs to provide a richer customer experience, and offer ‘Buy Now’ functionality within Twitter. Two years ago Burberry filmed their entire London Fashion Week show on 14 iPhone 5S’s and more recently streamed its London In LA show on Periscope. While many fashion brands are struggling to effectively utilize basic social media services such as Twitter, Burberry is taking the lead; publishing buzz worthy and social media friendly marketing that utilizes both short and long form engagement. The company’s strategy seems effective, with the combination of Snapchat and Periscope to broadcast their London In LA event generating over 100 million impressions around the globe.
