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Oscar de la Renta unveils bridal collection via live-streaming fashion show

April 12, 2011

Here comes the bride

American fashion house Oscar de la Renta has expanded the reach of its spring 2011 bridal collection by streaming it live on the brand’s Facebook page April 11.

Consumers can watch the fashion show on the Oscar de la Renta Facebook page. From a marketing perspective, Oscar de la Renta is able to reach more affluent soon-to-be brides via the live streaming show, which increases the chances for sales of the gowns.

“Fashion shows give brands the ability to present product in a controlled environment,” said Michael Miraflor, associate director of integrated media at Zenith Media NY, New York.

“All of the elements that contribute to a successful fashion show – the clothes, the models, the attendees, the music – in combination are designed to reflect the personality of the brand and elicit an emotional response,” he said.

Live bride
In addition to marketing the live-streaming fashion show via its Facebook page, Oscar de la Renta is using the in-house public relations, Twitter and Tumblr pages to attract consumers.

Oscar de la Renta Twitter posts

Having the opportunity to watch a live fashion show on a luxury brand’s Web site or Facebook page is the closest thing to being a guest at the show.

Since not everyone is able to physically attend a live fashion show, live-streaming collections is increasingly becoming popular for luxury brands.

The Oscar de la Renta spring 2011 bridal runway show is available for consumers to view in the “Odlrnow” tab of the brand’s Facebook page.

“Facebook is where the majority of Web users are these days, it is the network television of the Web,” said Laura Reis, president of Ries & Ries, a Roswell, GA-based marketing strategy consultancy. “While it is fine for any brand to post things on Facebook, it might be a better strategy to spend more time to better target a particular audience using more narrowly focused media sites.”

Consumers can discuss the collection with other lovers of the brand and post comments to their Facebook profile.

Users can watch the fashion show from a front row-center seat.

Consumers will see the gowns in motion, hear the music and feel the atmosphere of the show in their own homes.

Platform pick
Luxury brands are using different online platforms to stream their fashion shows.

For example, Italian fashion house Armani chose to stream its 2011-2012 men’s collection via the microsite live.armani.com, which is dedicated to showcasing current and past Armani collections (see story).

In addition, Gucci has created a platform called gucciconnect.com which allows users to experience the men’s autumn/winter 2011 collection fashion show.

Italian apparel designer Zenga also opted to use Facebook to stream its fashion show (see story).

“This intangible connection to brand ideals is often used by luxury consumers to justify the purchase of high-priced fashion goods,” Mr. Miraflor said. “It’s as much about purchasing the brand aura as it is product.

“There is no doubt that mobile fashion shows will continue to be a key opportunity for brands to communicate this aura and mystique,” he said.

Final Take
How will this add value to Oscar de la Renta?

Elizabeth Zelesny is editorial assistant at Luxury Daily. Reach her at elizabeth@napean.com