New York Bridal Fashion Week Goes Virtual

By now, fashion designers would have been putting their final touches on dresses as they planned lavish runway shows and collection previews in preparation for New York Bridal Fashion Week, which runs April 16-20. But the coronavirus outbreak has forced them to rethink how they should present their latest fashions.

In February, the Bridal Council, a New York-based member organization that supports bridal-focused designers, retailers and media, met at Town Hall, a performance space in Manhattan, to discuss alternate plans should the virus continue to spread throughout New York. “It was becoming clear we wouldn’t be able to come together in the traditional ways we had before,” said Rachel Leonard, the editorial director of the organization. “But we didn’t plan on the lockdown.”

Suddenly stores were closed. Designers were unable to travel. Fabrics became harder to obtain, and manufacturers took a forced pause. Then, finally, social distancing made it impossible to produce or attend runway shows.

Ms. Leonard sees some drawbacks to shifting designers’ presentations to online platforms. “It’s still a touchy-feely, emotional business,” she said. “It’s hard to see a fabulous wedding dress on the internet. The wow factor you felt when presenting in front of people and Instagram moments only an insider got, will be gone.”

Still she remained optimistic. “For designers, there will be a reinvention for how they do business and present their collections,” she said. “They will gain better relationships with their stores and brides, which might make them focus more on what’s going to sell, how to create newness, and make them smarter business people.”

Some designers have already begun to find inventive ways to communicate with their customers.

Anne Barge is hosting weekly online events called Wedding Wine Wednesday. “Every week she’s meeting with her stores on the web to talk about the issues of the day,” Ms. Leonard said. “Sareh Nouri is doing live Instachats with her brides.”

We spoke with five bridal designers, each of whom was taking a different approach to reaching press, retailers and brides during this season’s Bridal Fashion Week.

“It became clear a physical show was out, and we were not able to complete the collection’s photography, so we’ll be sending dresses to two or three models who can take the photos themselves, or are in a relationship with a photographer to produce images of the line,” said Neil Brown, the chief executive who was married to Ms. Aberra.

This season the designer will be showing five collections, each with approximately 10 looks, all which fall under the brand’s umbrella. “This month we’re launching a virtual try-on on the site where a user, media person, or retailer, will have the ability to try on apparel digitally, or on an avatar of their choice that represents their body type,” Mr. Brown said. The brand is also offering digital marketing appointments via Zoom, the videoconferencing app, where retailers and editors can have a one-on-one dialogue with the design director, Margo LaFontaine, or meet with the sales team to view the latest collection.

The brand also intends to do a bigger presentation in October. “As our brides’ needs have evolved in this unusual climate — many have pushed to next year or they’re doing something small in their homes — we’ll be changing the selection of what we would normally share,” she said. “That means posting about more intimate, less ornate and subdued matching sets rather than our feathered or over-the-top pieces that have historically done really well.”

But the coronavirus outbreak derailed those plans, along with a scheduled fashion show in Barcelona. “So it’s made us rethink and look at connecting virtually,” he said.

This month he will invite 100 members of the media to an hourlong live stream presentation via Zoom. “We’re lucky, in February we shot product video at the Beekman Hotel for each of our 26 styles for the Justin Alexander Signature Collection,” he said. “We’ll walk media through our content, show videos, and present our campaign images.”

Then there are the five-hour webinars, which will cover his more commercial collections which he will present to editors and buyers for six consecutive days, each in a different language. There will also be virtual Q-and-A sessions, educational seminars, and consultations for retailers. “So far more than 200 stores have signed up,” Mr. Warshaw said. “We anticipate a surge of brides shopping for dresses when this is over. We want to help prepare them for the new normal when they reopen.”

source: nytimes.com