TopShop partners with Google for London Fashion Week with amazing results

Personally I’m a huge fan of combining creative mediums to create unique all-encompassing experiences to emotionally move and challenge the viewer or attendee. The fashion industry is one that has embraced this ideology, to show that cutting-edge design doesn’t stop at the clothing. In the last few years I have been fortunate enough to experience original Fashion shows that engage the audiences sense by using all elements of the catwalk to create a holistic experience – from heat-activated fabric to choreographed runways behind interactive mapped-projections on the forth-wall screen, with live music. Although these were fantastic, none of them took the experience further than the physical space itself.
Some designers have started live-streaming their collections online, but this means that it is all on the designers terms, giving only a front view of the models, and the technology is often left lacking – leaving a rather blurred impression rather than the glamour they are trying to portray.

TopShop + London Fashion Week

​TopShop, in partnership with Google, created a fully 360, multi-platform catwalk channel centralized on Google+, making Global viewers part of the action. Topshop are calling it the ‘Future of Fashion shows.’ Perhaps it really is this time.
“Over 2 million people in a 100 countries watched the show live.” – Mashable
Topshop directed their socially active audience from across all their social channels to a centralized Google+ page. Once at the dedicated Google+ page it offered the viewer the choice to add key people who are at the centre of the action, or live-streaming angles during London Fashion Week. These included:

• the models – so the viewer could watch their ‘Digital Diaries’ of fittings and the build-up to the show, on the red carpet. Micro-cameras were also sewn into the clothing giving the perspective of the model on the catwalk itself.
• the designers – Q& A Hangouts to support , or experience the frenzy backstage during the show
• make-up stylists – live-streaming back-stage tip’s and tricks videos, static gif images, blog posts
• the front-of-house potential buyers and celebrities – to feel like one of the elite, nestled next to A-list celebrities.

The viewers can also watch Google+ Hangouts backstage and the live-streamed action was shown on the Topshop site, and at its flagship store on Oxford Street as well as on Google+ and Youtube.
Topshop and Google also released a “Be the Buyer App,” which allows fans to create their own look boards with pieces show on the runway during the Topshop show, supported by advice from style blog partners, on Google+.
Tactics and mediums used: Vine, live-streaming video, Digital Diaries from celebrities personalities, all centralized on Google+
Route and Result: The central idea of this promotional campaign was to engage each individual audience member by giving them the autonomy to be involved as much or as little as they liked, to choose how and where they would experience the action, through the eyes of the professional they chose and respected. With the combination of the multiple narratives from each professionals personal experience, it catered for each individuals interest, meaning it personalised the brand to each individual, reflecting their personal fashion identity, adding greater depth to the emotional affiliation with the brand and increasing the brands Global exposure.
Here’s what happened. (Created by Google’s Creative Lab team)