NEW IN TECHNOLOGY
Amazon Prime Wardrobe
With Amazon Prime Wardrobe, Amazon Prime members will now have the option of selecting items from fashion categories such as clothing, shoes and accessories to be delivered to their homes with incentives such as hassle-free returns and discounts for large quantity purchases. Once the customer receives the items, they have a week to try on everything and decide what to keep; if a customer decides to keep three to four items from their order, Amazon offers a 10% discount, while customers who decide to keep five or more items will receive a 20% discount. The package includes a prepaid return label that customers can use to ship unwanted items back. Amazon even offers a free pick up from home service, making returns friction-free. [1]
As a larger percentage of shoppers are becoming digitally-enabled, trips to the mall are replaced with casual online shopping via our smartphones. The release of Amazon Prime Wardrobe poses a threat to department stores such as Macy’s, Kohl’s, J.C. Penney & Nordstrom, whose stock prices have dropped significantly over the past few months as Amazon’s continues to soar. Retailers struggle to offer delivery services at the same speed and price point as Amazon can, forcing them to rely solely on brand loyalty and unique merchandise assortment to woo customers over.
Amazon has made many attempts to enter the fashion industry- earlier this year the company launched the Echo Look “style assistant”, and partnered with a variety of celebrities to create special product assortments. While the Amazon Prime Wardrobe is still in testing, customers can sign up to be notified when the service officially launches. [2]
Pinterest “Shop the Look”
Pinterest, every creative’s favorite visual bookmarking tool, has just launched a new “Shop the Look” feature that allows authorized retail partners to distinguish multiple products that are for sale in a single image. Even if an item in the image is not for sale, users can shop similar items currently for sale through the network. [3] By following in the footsteps of similar DIY-related pages such as Etsy, Pinterest will serve as another platform from which independent boutiques can establish their businesses.
The company already offers “buyable pins”, which is similar to “Shop the Look” except those pins were limited to a single item each. With “Shop the Look”, brands can now advertise multiple products in the same pin. [4] Brands that have worked hard to build a following via Pinterest now have the opportunity to convert their popularity into sales. For entrepreneurs and small boutiques, Pinterest “Shop the Look” may provide a low-barrier to entry platform from which they can grow their business.
NEW IN STREETWEAR
Louis Vuitton x Supreme Collaboration Release
The long awaited Louis Vuitton x Supreme collaboration was released on June 30, 2017 exclusively through eight pop-ups around the world. Located in Paris, London, Miami, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul and Sydney, the exact locations of these pop-ups were revealed on Instagram only hours before each release.
“There’s a jacket that people are selling for $10,000 online,” said Babacar Cisse, an assistant trader who had taken a couple of days off for the event, saying, “I organize my calendar around the releases.” [5]
Though the pop-up stores were a huge success, Louis Vuitton does not currently plan to offer this collection online or in Supreme stores; products will only become available at select Louis Vuitton stores at a later date. The success of this collaboration further emphasizes the huge impact street style has had and continues to have on today’s fashion industry.
NEW IN EMERGING TRENDS
Socks: Fashion’s Secret Weapon
The athleisure trend has saturated retail for the past few seasons, with many designers now opting to complete their runway looks with sneakers instead of high heels. Athletic brands such as Adidas have capitalized on this trend through extensive assortments of casual sneakers, but the focus is now shifting towards socks.
“It became a trend at Gucci,” says Chelsea Power, a buyer at MatchesFashion.com, who says the e-commerce site has experienced quadruple-digit growth in sales of socks in the last two years. “Two years ago, there were absolutely no socks at Gucci. Designers now understand that it’s a big opportunity in the same way that sunglasses are — it’s accessible for those who can’t afford a runway look but also appeals to those who want the full runway look.” [6]
With a large portion of the population wearing the same shoes- Adidas, Nike, Converse, Vans- socks provide a simple and fun way to express your individuality. Fashion has evolved into a unique mix of high and low designers that really allows each individual to express themselves in a fun yet comfortable way. Designers are now styling high heels back to colorful socks, and power suits back to sneakers. With the cropped denim trend still in full effect, the sock trend is also sure to stay.
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ACADEMIC INSIGHTS:
[1] THE MOTLEY FOOL “Amazon Crush Department Store Stock Prime Wardrobe”
[2] THE VERGE “Amazon Prime Wardrobe Try Clothes Before You Buy”
[3] PINTEREST “Selling on Pinterest”
Lieutalica. by Tiffanie Sayaka 