Tommy Hilfiger jumps on the 'Direct-to-Consumer' bandwagon
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London - Not one to be left behind when it comes to embracing change, Tommy Hilfiger has announced plans to transform its current New York Fashion Week show, starting from September 2016, into a "multimedia broadcast runway production" centered on consumers as all products shown will be immediately available for sale.
The US fashion designer's announcement comes days after similar news broke from the likes of Burberry, Tom Ford, Paul Smith and Vetements, who aim to break away from the traditional fashion week schedule in order to appeal to consumers see-now, buy-now demands and align runway shows with their retail calendar.
Tommy Hilfiger set to stage "see-now, buy-now" catwalk show for womenswear collections come September
As of the Spring 2017 New York Fashion Week season, Tommy Hilfiger aims to shift its catwalk show to align with the in-store drops by debuting its fall 2016 collections together with a "full-scale" fashion show for both consumers and members of the press. Following the show, the collection will be immediately available for purchase across all of the US retailer's sales channels, including wholesale and online, through its global retail network.
"I founded my brand to be accessible and inclusive, and I’ve always considered the consumer to be the most important aspect of our business," said Tommy Hilfiger on the decision in a press release. "In the past 30 years, we’ve paved the way in fusing fashion and entertainment. This philosophy has always been a part of my dream to connect our global consumers to inspiring, unexpected fashion experiences. We’ve been building towards this for a long time, and the natural progression of this approach to democratizing the runway is to make the full excitement and energy of NYFW directly accessible to our consumers in a globally impactful way."
In addition, Tommy Hilfiger's show in September will also mark the public debut of model Gigi Hadid's collaborative capsule collection with Tommy Hilfiger as the fashion house aims to unveil the entire collection of TommyXGigi during a runway event. This presentation will also feature a series of exclusive looks curated from Tommy Hilfiger's womenswear collections.
Following the show's transition for September, Tommy Hilfiger will go on to debut its womenswear Spring 2017 collection next year February to consumers. Not to shun its wholesale buyers and long-lead media, the brand will host a private showing of its upcoming Spring 17 collections this September to selected partners. The new fashion show launch this fall will be supported by an integrated global advertising campaign to ensure it reaches its core, target audience and will be promoted through an international multi-media broadcast network, highlighting the brand's ongoing fusion of fashion and entertainment.
"As one of the world’s most recognized American lifestyle brands and most visible shows at NYFW, we have a unique opportunity to take a leadership role in moving the runway closer to the consumer," added Daniel Grieder, Chief Executive Officer for Tommy Hilfiger. "In line with our vision to become more consumer centric, it’s important that we channel the incredible visibility and engagement that our shows generate into the moment when the product launches. This is the next step in our journey to shorten the development cycle and balance our approach to meet the diverse needs of consumers, buyers and media. We are committed to working in a new way with our business partners and the industry to achieve this goal."
According to a press release from the company, the change to it's womenswear fashion show "reflects the company’s commitment to the global growth of its womenswear business" and highlights a its potential for additional growth across its women's categories. Tommy Hilfiger has yet to reveal any plans concerning its menswear fashion week show, but will share further information concerning its catwalk format in the lead up to September.