Social media, AI, VR, metaverse, simulated in-store experience… the list grows bigger and keeps changing the landscapes and platforms for brands and their customers to engage in. Models showcasing latest collection in fashion glossies or towering billboards are still around but more for maintaining their legacy channels of communications rather than the primary outreach to customers. 

Fashion marketing now has to keep up as new social apps appear and also keep note that some apps may not be the wonder they were launched to be. The much-celebrated metaverse started getting flaks for its weak security that scared brands of being misled or hacked. In the midst of it all, creative agencies that manage reputable fashion accounts are getting out and about, coming up with a variety of platforms that may not be entirely pioneering but definitely engaging. 

As per McKinsey study, while the fashion has experimented with basic AI and other technologies viz.  Metaverse, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), digital IDs, and augmented or virtual reality, it has not experienced generative AI -- a nascent technology so far. It could change fashion marketing as per some indications are and improve at lightning speed and become a game changer in many aspects of business. “In the next three to five years, generative AI could add $150 billion, conservatively, and up to $275 billion to the apparel, fashion, and luxury sectors’ operating profits,” says McKinsey analysis.

Brand communication goes beyond fashion

Gen Z is keen to relate to their preferred brands not through product exclusivity but with the multifaceted brand personality that resonate with them. As this truth grows more profound, fashion brands have jumped off the catwalk, photo shoots and influencer endorsements into larger and live activities. One such example is the Air Afrique and Bottega Veneta collaboration. The pan-African airline Air Afrique, co-owned by a large number of sub-Saharan African nations, was operational between 1961 and 2002. Bottega Veneta partnered Air Afrique to launch an eponymous magazine, a platform dedicated to Afro-diasporic art and conversation. To mark the launch of the magazine, creative director Matthieu Blazy commissioned a series of blankets by Bottega Veneta’s Franco-Sudanese designer Abdel El Tayeb. Drawing on Sudan's history and contemporary identity, El Tayeb’s Afro-futuristic designs are a unique composition of fine wool, silver leather et al from the brand’s archive.

Similarly, Saint Laurent commissioned contemporary Cai Guo-Qiang to create a spectacular a first-time daylight fireworks display in Japan in June, the day Cai inaugurated her solo exhibition in Tokyo titled ‘Ramble in the Cosmos’. Spanish luxury brand Loewe is celebrating Japanese musician Kenshi Yenezu’ music through his creative spaces that can experienced at the Saint Laurent outlet in Tokyo.

Many brands capitalised on TV by partnering productions to increase visiblity. For example, Gucci provided access to its archives and allowed shooting in its Rome flagship for ‘House of Gucci,’ a film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, which generated 25,000 posts across news and social media in ahead of the film’s release in 2021.

Levi’s goes Lollapalooza in India

Year 2023 marked the 150th year of the world’s most iconic denim jeans, the Levi’s 501. In India for example, Levi’s decided to engage with Indian youth consumers by jumping into the first Indian edition of Lollapalooza Music Festival held in Mumbai in January this year as a sponsor along with a host of other well-known entities and brands. Levi’s partnered a range of Indian influencers and artists to connect with the large Indian population of Gen Z consumers using this festival as its engagement platform.  The ‘Levi’s® on Wheels’ branded double decker chauffeured a group of influencers to the festival while driving around Mumbai to promote the label. The brand also ran a ‘Levi’s® Tailorshop’ which offered live garment customization. It enabled fans to customize their denim and make it truly their own through screen prints, paneling and heat-press.

This trend has had a positive impact on global creative talent pool that gains international recognition and international brands entrenching its regional loyalty.