WWD is reporting that Ralph Lauren has partnered with Periscope to live stream the designer’s upcoming NYFW show. In a first, the Periscope stream will also be displayed live on a video billboard in London’s Piccadilly Circus. As events such as NYFW are becoming more consumer focused, live video streaming makes a lot of sense. According to David Lauren, EVP of global marketing, advertising, and corporate communications, the shared experience is so compelling because viewers know “that someone in Japan is seeing the same thing as someone as [sic] London or New York at the same time.” While Periscope has an impressive user base of over 10 million users, utilizing a billboard in London allows Ralph Lauren to simultaneously reach a broader audience; according to Lauren, over 2 million people pass through Piccadilly Circus every week.
Ralph Lauren is no stranger to utilizing technology. The fashion company’s first runway show for their Polo Women’s collection was done via a “4D projection” on The Lake in Central Park and they recently launched the Polo Tech smartshirt through a partnership with OMsignal. Discussing technology, Lauren said, “You have to be willing to try new things and take a few risks, and you have to figure out a way to connect both fashion and technology so it makes sense.” The Spring 2016 collection will be broadcast live from Skylight Clarkson Square on Thursday, September 17th at 11am EDT. This is also a notable move for Periscope; combined with news that the service will deploy an app for the upcoming AppleTV, the Twitter owned company seems to be making a strong push to increase awareness.
