M’oda ‘Operandi: pre-tail to etail

Pre-tail site, M’oda ‘Operandi has been going for quite a while now and even though I’m still a novice online shopper when it comes to fashion (honestly, I can count my total clothing purchases on two hands), I do think it’s a clever concept.

For me it works as a research tool. It bridges the gap between seeing things on the runway (styled to the hilt as per the designer’s vision) and seeing them on a rail in store. We get to see clothes ahead of season styled in a more wearable way, including those by some of the lesser known designers. This week’s ‘trunk shows’ (the M’O name for its limited-time pre-order sales) includes Bouchra Jarrar’s winter couture collection (a designer I love, who was shortlisted for the Balenciaga gig and M’oda ‘Operandi’s first ‘couture’ designer) and J.W. Anderson pre-fall.

But like a lot of start-ups, it seems the plan is to develop the concept beyond its original, well, moda operandi. Since December, the site has also offered conventional, in-season etail in its ‘Boutique’, giving the M’O consumer the option to buy their favorite pieces and wear them the next day. As CEO Aslaug Magnusdottir says, “We want to better serve our current customers and reach a new customer base. We’ve been able to establish a name in various pockets of the world and we want to take advantage of our positioning and build our market share quickly.”

You can pre-order Bouchra Jarrar’s winter couture collection until 5th Feb and J.W. Anderson Pre-Fall 2013 until 4th Feb. Happy shopping!

Bouchra Jarrar

J.W. Anderson

Disneyrollergirl 1 Comment Brands, Business of fashion, Designers, News, Online shopping, Retail concepts, Shopping Bouchra Jarrar, etail, J.W Anderson, Moda operandi, pre-tail, shopping

16 May, 2012

On trunk shows, experiential retail and Hannah Warner’s extreme nail art

The Independent published a story this week about the growth of online trunk shows – Moda Operandi, Net-a-Porter et al giving customers the chance to shop ahead of the season by pre-ordering almost straight from the runway. The analogue version of this is the physical trunk show, more popular in America, but also being used in the UK by smaller retailers and designers to offer their customers a more intimate experience and learn from the feedback. I wrote about this a while ago for Glass magazine and noticed that trunk shows seem to be particularly popular with jewellers. Especially with more expensive pieces, it seems the live shopping experience can add to the emotional value of the piece. This month, contemporary multi-brand jeweller Kabiri is holding weekly trunk shows with a different designer every Thursday where customers can meet the makers and also try out special pieces from their collections.

Owner Nathalie Kabiri says, “although we have a successful online store, you can’t replicate the interaction of meeting the brands personally. We pride ourselves on our close working relationships with designers and decided to hold the series of trunk shows so that our designers can give advice to customers, to help them achieve the perfect jewellery purchase.” One of those designers is Hannah Warner whose darkly gothic aesthetic has earned her commissions from Mugler and Jean-Paul Gauliter. Tomorrow at Kabiri in Marylebone Road, Warner will be launching her gold nail jewellery; thorn-like nail attachments that are applied by a manicurist. These have been much buzzed about since being seen on the Mugler AW12 runway. The following Thursday, British jewellers, Cabinet will hold a trunk show at Kabiri in King’s Road. Although the trunk shows are open to the public, you have to book a place. Find all the details are here.

Disneyrollergirl 2 Comments Design, Designers, Events, Retail concepts Hannah Warner, jewellery, Kabiri, Moda operandi, Netaporter, trunk shows

15 January, 2012

Menswear AW12 shows get in on the Twitpic action

Some disagree but I found it quite exciting viewing Burberry’s ‘Tweetwalk’ live Twitpic show and Dolce & Gabbana’s’s Twitpics on my BlackBerry while out shopping yesterday. While the last few seasons have seen fashion editors tweeting first 140-character reports, then blurry Twitpics and the ocasional Twitvid, now the brands themselves are tweeting the action in tandem with (or just after) the shows. (more…)