How To Use The Excitement of London Fashion Week To Build Your Clothing Line Brand
In order to use the excitement of London Fashion Week to build your clothing line brand you first need to decide on what you are trying to achieve and who you want to attract at Fashion Week? The next step is to develop your fashion week strategy but don’t stress as we’ve got both steps covered! Below you’ll find 7 questions that will help you decide what you really want to focus on during fashion week in order to develop a strategy.
- I want to use fashion week to get more engagement on social media I.e. more followers/ subscribers/ friends/likes/shares for my clothing line brand
1 (Highly Important) 2 (Important) 3 (Fairly Important)
4 (No biggie either way) 5 (Couldn’t care less)
- I want to use fashion week to get Influencers to work with me
1 (Highly Important) 2 (Important) 3 (Fairly Important)
4 (No biggie either way) 5 (Couldn’t care less)
- I want to use fashion week to increase sales
1 (Highly Important) 2 (Important) 3 (Fairly Important)
4 (No biggie either way) 5 (Couldn’t care less)
- I want to use fashion week to build my contacts in the fashion industry i.e. fashion press, stylists and other designers
1 (Highly Important) 2 (Important) 3 (Fairly Important)
4 (No biggie either way) 5 (Couldn’t care less)
- I want to use fashion week to test which of my product lines/designs are the most popular
1 (Highly Important) 2 (Important) 3 (Fairly Important)
4 (No biggie either way) 5 (Couldn’t care less)
- I want to use fashion week to develop international contacts I.e. overseas buyers, foreign media, manufacturers in Asia
1 (Highly Important) 2 (Important) 3 (Fairly Important)
4 (No biggie either way) 5 (Couldn’t care less)
- I want to use fashion week to attract buyers I.e. department stores to my brand
1 (Highly Important) 2 (Important) 3 (Fairly Important)
4 (No biggie either way) 5 (Couldn’t care less)
Make a note of the top two or three that you graded as Highly Important as these will be your focus for fashion week. Now that you have an idea of what your top prioritise are its time to delve into how to actually achieve your fashion week goals and develop the strategy.
I want to use fashion week to get more engagement on social media
Instagram and Twitter and more recently Snap chat have been become the most popular platforms for designers to build their social media platform. The famous New York City street photographer Bill Cunningham once said: “The best fashion show is on the street. Always has been, always will be.” So in order to use fashion week to grow your social media presence why not take William’s advice literally and document what’s going outside the show, here’s how:
- The focus is on shooting or possibly interviewing bloggers/influencer’s who know will be attending certain shows/events so do your research and make a timetable of their movements during fashion week. Don’t worry you’re not setting yourself up as a stalker, but instead follow them on social media and find out where they will be.
- The aim is to get the opportunity to take pictures with them or film them, and introduce yourself as a fan in a natural, relaxed environment. As we’ve already mentioned you can hire a free professional photographer via modelmayhem.com, and give them a brief which includes pictures of what you’re target influencers look like and what you’re trying to achieve.
- Once you have your pictures put them up the relevant social media platforms, but if you get filmed interview material send it to the influencer first and ask if they are ok with you sharing it. Not only will this show a level of respect and professionalism, it opens up a level of communication with them which you can then use to develop into your influencer strategy.
I want to use fashion week to get Influencers to work with me
Attracting Bloggers/Influencers is always a great way to get your brand noticed and here’s how to do it:
- Research at least 4 influencers that you think would like/ be a good fit for your brand. By research we’re talking about spending at least a week reading their social media content, who have they worked with, what are their general likes and dislikes when it comes to fashion, who are their favourite designers etc?
- Then once you’ve decided that they are the right fit, follow them on Instagram, Twitter and/or Facebook and comment on their content (genuine comments not just emojis), especially if they make a personal suggestion about something that followers should try out. Share their content whenever you like it as this will build rapport with them
- After a month (minimum) of all the above, send them a message introducing yourself and invite them out for a coffee. Offer them any of your designs they like and ask them to wear it during fashion week.
- Once they agree, schedule to meet at the event and you can take pictures yourself or get a professional photographer (use modelmayhem.com to get one for free), perhaps making an insta-story out of it by filming when they come out to get their opinions of the show.
- Send the influencer all the pictures and footage and of course tag them in all the content you create.
I want to use fashion week to Generate More Sales
The end game is of course to sell your designs and increase sale. That’s not an easy thing to do when you’re not stocked anywhere and relying on the power of social media alone, but there’s a low- cost option to get you on the high-street and it all lies in the power of the pop-up shop. Here’s how:
- Research pop up spaces that are located in and around the fashion week venues, you can use paid services like popertee.com and appearhere.com to identify the best location.
- Collaborate with a non-competing brand in the same price point, e.g. a footwear brand if you’re an athleisure brand to share the pop space (and costs), as well double the efforts of promotion and marketing.
I want to use fashion week to Build my Contacts in the fashion industry i.e. fashion press, stylists and other designers
- A simple option here is network with other industry professionals by getting a ticket to the London Fashion Week Festival which is staged at the London Fashion Week venue, The Store Studios on the Strand. The organisers of the events say that “…this is the only event that gives you unparalleled access to the industry to experience the best of British and international fashion including a showcase of designer and trend catwalks shows, designer shopping and industry talks.”
- Take your business cards, look book and live images/footage of any models wearing your collection on your phone.
- Visit: www.londonfashionweekfestival.com for more information
I want to use fashion week to work with Overseas Partners
There’s no better time of year than fashion week to meet industry professionals from around the world, and this strategy has to be combined with the Generating Sales strategy in order to make the most of the opportunity, here’s how:
- Research – Look at the press from last season’s event to see which designers, magazines etc. were at fashion week. Make a target list of all the industry professionals you want to meet/network with and use LinkdIn for more specific information I.e. email addresses.
- Hire a pop-up space (as mentioned above) as a show room to display your designs. The idea is to create a nice relaxed space where you can host an invite only event for your target list.
- Contact your target list explaining what you’re trying to do and why they should attend, I.e. highlight what makes your brand unique and (if they’re designers), why you would like to collaborate.
- Use an easy design platform like www.canva.com to create a digital invitation to send out to your target list, or get a designer on www.fiverr.com
- As always try and make sure you document the event using a photographer (or a friend with a good camera) and try and get some refreshments – white, not red wine, so if it accidentally spills on one of your designs it’s easier to clean.
I want to use fashion week to Attract Buyers
The strategy for attracting buyers in general is a little more complex than the others so we’ve created a short online course that covers everything you need to know.
For more information please visit www.fashionbrandbible.com
