Private VIP parties are new way to shop

With a seemingly never ending shift currently occurring on the fashion landscape and new sites launching almost per day offering consumers new ways to shop, physical stores and high street chains are ever suffering at the hands of faster, more

convenient ways to make purchases.

Retailers and designers have now come up with a new and more intimate means of attracting consumers; invite only party style pop-up shops.

With this new take on retail occurring on both sides of the globe, a typical Friday night now could mean gathering in a hotel room or friends house to discuss current fashion trends and sample select items from emerging, young designers, often at discounted prices. So with the key being the intimate and low key setting, consignment stores are now turning to this form of shopping, largely as it is an efficient way to expand its customer base without having to sign costly shop leases.

Sometimes these stores or designers will even take their events from city to city and country to country as a way to gain an international presence.

Oona McSweeney, vice-president of retail and special markets for trend forecasters Stylesight, is also enthusiastic about the concept. “It goes back to the trunk show model, where designers would show in department stores, not so much for sales but for the marketing, to get on the ground, meet the customers and create a kind of goodwill,” she says.

Beyond just new season pieces, these events can also work to launch designers, Paper London, a new UK line of silk separates aimed at working women, recently invited shoppers into a suite at the Andaz Liverpool Street hotel in London, close to the City offices where its target audience works.

And sometimes these events open up new commission style jobs, where part time sales teams are taken on to invite their friends and families to new brands in exchange for free gifts. Key to these events include the bond between hosts and their guests, the VIP-esque feel to the private events, the personal interaction and the fun vibe.

And of course from a retail perspective, between different stylists or representatives you can be organising over 20 parties a day!