London Fashion Week for the people
Fashion Week for press and VIPs really does seem to be a thing of the past these days. The best shows always seem to have an element of public spectacle – whether that’s Virgil Abloh’s debut as Louis Vuitton’s menswear creative director (for which he invited hundreds of fashion students to watch) or Martine Rose’s Camden street show, which was literally staged in a residential street, with all the neighbours watching.
This week’s London Fashion Week SS19 shows coincide with the London Design Festival, which means retailers have the spotlight on both fashion and interior design. Both Mulberry and Burberry are unveiling shiny new Regent Street flagships during LFW, with Burberry selling part of its collection in the new store immediately after Monday’s show.
This being Riccardo Tisci’s first Burberry collection, he has gone all out with the pomp and fanfare. As expected, that includes digitally. Limited edition designs will be sold exclusively on Instagram and WeChat for 24 hours from 5.30pm on Monday 17th September, the first time Burberry has created a bespoke social selling experience. It tested the waters earlier this week with a flash sale of a £290 monogrammed tee, sold only on Insta…
Meanwhile, the new Mulberry store has been designed by Studio Toogood, who has a track record for creating unusual and exciting retail spaces. The customer service has been ramped up, with mobile payment points, click and collect, plus two-hour same-day delivery across central London.
To celebrate the new store, Mulberry’s creative director Johnny Coca has created an exclusive collection of the new Harlow bag (below) which will only be available at 100 Regent Street, alongside the new AW18 collection (Mulberry’s strongest yet IMO). And customers can sip gin & tonics in-store while posing as a #MulberryMuse for the Autumn Winter ’18 campaign via an interactive digital studio that projects customised portraits to the store windows.
Anya Hindmarch is continuing the public-facing theme. Book a ticket online for her ‘Chubby Cloud’ experiential installation (top) at Banqueting House and choose from a huge programme of interactive events, including fashion talks, meditations, and live choral lullabies from the London Gay Men’s Chorus. The best bit is the giant cloud-like beanbag that you are given permission to doze to your heart’s content. Click here to book.
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WORDS: Disneyrollergirl/Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Anya Hindmarch; Burberry; Mulberry x 2
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