New York Fashion Week: Wu and Furstenberg among ‘most talked about' online

ETX Daily Up
A model at the Jason Wu Fall 2012 show

A study looking at which designers proved the most popular online during New York Fashion Week has revealed that the likes of Jason Wu and Diane von Furstenberg's digital innovations paid off.

A report released February 27 called "Fashion Goes Social: An Analysis of New York Fashion Week Through the Lens of Social Media" revealed that out of 18 brands analyzed, Wu was responsible for 16 percent of social media interactions.

The creator increased interaction for this season via live streaming of his runway show on US department store Nordstrom's website as well as hosting a "live" trunk show where shoppers could preorder pieces from the Fall collection.

The study, compiled by US social media marketing agency Attention, revealed Marc Jacobs was the subject of 14 percent of interactions and Michael Kors and Diane von Furstenberg came in joint third place with 12 percent.

Von Furstenberg is well known for her digital innovations and this season failed to disappoint by partnering with iPhone video app Viddy to distribute 15- to 30-second videos of looks from her February 12 show via Facebook and Twitter in sync with the catwalk unveiling.

"I think it's extraordinary that fashion brands are getting serious about word of mouth. They are finally realizing that what happens outside the tent is more important than inside the tents," Attention's chief executive officer Curtis Hougland was quoted as saying in WWD.

While London and New York have often been ahead of the other two fashion capitals in terms of digital innovation, labels including Mugler have changed this for Paris Fashion Week, with the French fashion house set to stream its February 29 show via social networking site UStream.

Meanwhile, Chloé's alternative line See by Chloé will abandon its previous showroom by appointment only rule by presenting a virtual show that will also be seen on Facebook. The presentation will be shown first on fashion production agency KCD's Digital Fashion Show platform, launched earlier this month to host online runway shows at digitalfashionshows.com.

While the platform has been designed for invite-only affairs for journalists and retailers, See by Chloé is ensuring that fans don't miss out by posting video footage on its Facebook page 30 minutes after the 10:30 launch on February 29.