November MBF Favorite Picks

In this month’s picks we focus on the digital interventions currently occurring in fashion. Digital media allows for an intersection between a wide array of media forms from music to film and fashion.

1. Burberry Acoustic 'Idiot' by Life in Film

Burberry has been the forerunner of bringing fashion into the digital age. They broke into social media with their street style site ArtoftheTrench and now have Burberry Acoustic, a group of beautifully filmed performance videos created by Burberry. Creative director Christopher Bailey wanted to “put together an incredible group of ongoing acoustic sessions from some of the finest talent coming out of the U.K. and bring them to the broad global Burberry audience." In this video by the British group Life in Film they perform their song ‘Idiot’ in the streets of Milan ending their acoustic set in the Burberry men’s store.

2. Fits.me

 Fits.me has solved a problem plaguing eCommerce since its’ beginning-the lack of dressing rooms. The ordering of incorrect sizes and subsequent returning of products raises overhead costs for eCommerce retailers. Fits.me solves this by being a virtual fitting room for online clothing retailers where online shoppers can see which size of clothing fits them best, before making their online purchases. How it works is a robot mannequin, which can replicate over 2,000 body shapes, is created from your measurements, from there you are able to see the true fit of the clothing as it looks on your mannequin body. See the robot mannequin in action in the above video.  

3. I-Ella

image via: iella

I-Ella is an invitation-only marketplace where members can edit their wardrobes and shop celebrity closets while making a positive social change. Members are invited to not only share their closets-but buy, borrow, swap or lend clothes to other members.

4. LOUD Radio

image via: uk.tommy.com

Veteran American designer Tommy Hilfiger has launched his own digital radio station in partnership with THE HOURS ENTERTAINMENT and Goom Radio. The radio station LOUD, which will stream online will also be available in 18 countries and in 9 languages, is to promote Hilfiger’s new fragrance LOUD for her and him. Tommy Hilfiger have also contracted U.K. indie pop group The Ting Tings to create a signature track for the scent. The song called “We’re Not The Same” was played when The Ting Tings headlined a LOUD concert in Berlin. You can listen to the LOUD station stream live at the Tommy Hilfiger website.

5. ShopItToMe

image via: shopittome

 ShopItToMe is an online personal shopper that keeps track of sales occurring online. Members specify what categories interest them, from clothing to accessories, as well as their sizes and ShopItToMe scours the web to find related items for the best price. The service works in two ways, one based on the members preferences they send personalized email alerts with their picks and all sorts of goodies like markdowns, secret promotion codes, and VIP sales evens. Similarly you can also search through deals that are relevant through their Shop It To Me search service.  They currently have over 3 million subscribers and make over 2 billion product recommendations every month.

6. Plum Willow

image via: nyt

Plum Willow is an “online social shopping experience” targeting the tween to teen market. Visitors of the site can share inspiration with friends, build their own dream closet, and buy clothes through the site. What makes Plum Willow unique is they employ High School interns, part of their target audience. Instead of designing what they believe their audience wants, by making their audience part of the design and decision making process, they have a more effective site.

7. AhaLife

Welcome to AHAlife from AHAlife on Vimeo.

 AhaLife is a curated eCommerce site that focuses on one product at a time and invites their members to be a part of the selection process. Each day they showcase one lifestyle item and tell the in-depth story of the product, the designer, and the creative process. AhaLife is dedicated to bringing their customers a “one-of-a-kind experience every day” with a little help from their “global network of curators.” AhaLife taps into consumer’s preference for a more personal, curated recommendation based eCommerce experience that welcomes the consumer into the process.

8. H&M 'Design is Relevant'

H&M created several mysterious videos to tease their upcoming design collaboration with Lanvin. H&M invited the fashion masses to take guesses as to who the celebrity design collaboration was with. By engaging their audience in this way they created genuine enthusiasm and excitement for the upcoming Lanvin collection. After the designer announcement, H&M promoted the collection by putting out a truly surreal fashion film directed by Hollywood director Mike Figgis, which has been much buzzed about and dissected on fashion blogs.