Amazon ‘Luxury Stores’ launching with Oscar de la Renta

Online giant Amazon is continuing its push into fashion with the launch of its new high-end shopping experience, ‘Luxury Stores’.

The new luxury proposition is launching with an invitation-only app for US Prime customers only and promises to offer both established and emerging luxury fashion and beauty brands.

The first designer to sign up to open a store on the app is Oscar de la Renta. The American fashion house will stock its pre-fall and fall/winter 2020 collections, ready-to-wear, handbags, jewellery, accessories, and a new perfume, with childrenswear coming soon, Amazon added in a statement.

The concept, Amazon explained combines its “convenience” with innovative technology like View in 360, an interactive feature that will begin rolling out with select garments at launch, allowing customers to explore styles in 360-degree detail to better visualise fit to make “shopping for luxury easier and more engaging”.

Each luxury store will offer brands a “store within a store’ experience,” meaning that collections will be sold directly from the brand itself, with Amazon adding that brands will independently make decisions regarding their inventory, selection, and pricing.

Amazon notes that each brand will be given merchandising tools to create and personalise content in “their unique brand voices” as it believes that content-driven e-commerce will reach and engage more shoppers. Both fashion and beauty brands will be encouraged to “engage and entertain customers through immersive storytelling, including enhanced, auto-play imagery and in-motion graphics”.

Amazon targets luxury fashion with new invitation-only retail concept

“We are always listening to and learning from our customers, and we are inspired by feedback from Prime members who want the ability to shop their favourite luxury brands in Amazon’s store,” said Christine Beauchamp, president of Amazon Fashion. “We are excited to offer luxury brands the services and technology to build an inspiring, elevated customer experience. It’s still day one, and we look forward to growing Luxury Stores, innovating on behalf of our customers, and opening a new door for designers all over the world to access existing and new luxury customers.”

Alex Bolen, chief executive of Oscar de la Renta, added: “Oscar de la Renta is thrilled to partner with Amazon for the launch of Luxury Stores. As a global leader in retail, Amazon has a relentless focus on improving the customer experience through constant innovation, utilising technology, and customer feedback.

“We admire Amazon’s customer-centric focus and look forward to telling our brand’s story in compelling and engaging ways to even more customers through the Luxury Stores experience.”

To launch its luxury store on Amazon, Oscar de la Renta has collaborated on a video, starring Cara Delevingne, directed by Bunny Kinney, and styled by Jason Bolden, which celebrates the “imaginative intersection of fashion and technology”.

Amazon Luxury Stores will be eligible to US Prime members initially, who will be invited. For Prime members that did not yet receive an invitation via e-mail, Amazon said they can request one via its website. With the online giant adding that over time, Luxury Stores will extend invitations to more shoppers.

Amazon didn’t confirm which other luxury designers have signed up to the service, just adding that “more brands” would launch in the "coming weeks and seasons”.

Image: Oscar de la Renta Facebook