This year’s festival/conference/party tech fest did not disappoint as one of Austin’s premier events started off with a plethora of tech filled panels and surprise musical performances during the first few days of Interactive. Luckily, Yanira and I were able to join in the madness and experienced a bit of that during our sessions at SXSW Style.
Being the fashion mavens that we are [ cue audience laugh sound effect] and on the SXSW FOR FREE budget, we were able to attend really informative sessions hosted by DECODED Fashion who brought in world renowned guest speakers from across the industry who spoke about fashion converging with today’s digital age.
Key Learnings from Panelists:
On Digital Influencers:
Olly Rzysko, Head of Digital Communications at Primark
Bloggers will always be relevant within the industry. They have a voice and they help consumer shape their opinions about the lifestyle that we [brands] try to sell. If you’re a starting blogger look at key ways on how to break into the market, start curating a specific look to craft your creative, and always push out great content.
Ryan Brockington, VP Digital Creative at Theory
When it comes to the tone of voice and targeting for men’s fashion it’s all about keeping it simple! Communication and visuals have to be straightforward and easy to digest for men. They like to be guided so keep that in mind!
Amber Venz, President & Co-Founder at rewardStyle
Amber Venz President & Co-Founder of rewardStyle said it best. It’s great to have biggest blogger/influencer promote your brand but what kind of profits did this promotion drive? You always have to think of ROI.
Joe Zee, Chief Editor at Yahoo! Style
We had an insightful conversation with Joe Zee, Editor-in-chief & Executive Creative Officer of Yahoo Style, about how social media platforms should be used uniquely:
Facebook = Opinion Articles,
Instagram= Visual Posts,
Snapchat = Behind the scenes,
Twitter= Voice & Thoughts.
On the Future of Retail:
Ecommerce, Brick and Mortar, and Pop-up Shops
Because so many transactions on being made online and on mobile devices retail has felt the impact. We’ve all read about Macys closing down several of their locations due to these disruptions. So as a result we’ve seen the new trend of Pop up shops.
Consumer Driven Runways: Buy Now Wear Now
With fashion shows being easily accessible through various mediums (Mobile, Tablets, Social Media, ect.) consumers want to immediately buy the clothes off the runway. This is a big obstacle for several big fashion houses who release the collections several months after the shows. However, there are designers (Tom Ford, Burberry, Hilfiger) already paving the way of the fashion on demand world.
There is a gap between eCommerce and Retail
Ecommerce and retail are having a hard time syncing up. There is a big disconnect between when consumers shop online and what they expect to find in stores.
Strengthening in-store experiences
Jenn Williams, VP of Retail Services from Perry Ellis noted that improving the customer experience at department stores starts at solving complications within each store segment. Retailers should look to identify key problem areas ranging from product knowledge to inventory and incorporate technology to smoothen the shopping process.
After the brain dump, Yani and I of course checked out the rest of the city to catch a small glimpse of SXSW Madness. Our first stop was the Refinery 29 x Neiman Marcus: School of Self Expression installation at the Mexi-Arte Museum on Congress:
And of course…we stopped by the Mashable House too!
and of course the day wouldn’t be complete without new friends
By the end of the night we were exhausted AF. In a last ditch attempt to score into a few parties, i.e. TUMBLR and Deloitte- we collectively said: HELL KNAW. We don’t do lines so off to the casa and bed we went. But there’s always next year and new ways to hustle that badgeless experience. Overall SXSW16 was an informative experience jam packed with ratchet fun. We will definitely catch you guys there next year.
Until then- DUECES!
RJ x Yani
