Topshop partners with Facebook ahead of LFW

High street fashion retailer Topshop has announced that it has partnering with Facebook ahead of London Fashion Week to launch the first ever live ‘Customisation of the Catwalk’. For the first time ever viewers will be able to ‘customise the

catwalk’ by changing the colour of selected key looks and accessories, with the use of new technology developed to create the “most advanced immersive and engaging social experience” for the Topshop Unique spring/summer 2013 London Fashion Week show, which takes place on Sunday, September 16.

The technology combines social, e-commerce and entertainment, allowing views to share and buy looks as soon as they hit the runway, as everything from the music to the clothes and the beauty will be available to purchase instantly, with delivery being three months ahead of industry lead times.

Topshop’s Chief Marketing Officer, Justin Cooke, said: “This show is all about the customer and creating what we call ‘social entertainment’ around our product. We want to take the energy and the excitement of our iconic Oxford street store to millions of people all over the world through Topshop.com. It’s social, it’s commerce and it’s entertainment all rolled into one."

To allow the show to be a new social experience, Facebook’s in-house engineers have developed the ‘shoot the show’ camera button that is placed on the corner of the livestream, this allows users to click and capture their favourite looks from the show as if they were sitting in the front row.

 Joanna Shields, VP & MD Facebook, added: "Fashion enthusiasts are sharing the things they love on Facebook now more than ever. This is where the conversation happens, its among friends and its where great brands need to engage.

“Topshop clearly understand this, they are a cool young brand with a deep understanding of their customers, and by developing the innovative 'shoot the show' functionality with Facebook, they are enabling millions of people globally to share their favourite moments instantly with their friends."