How are Digital Innovations Transforming the Fashion Industry?

As the old saying goes, ‘Nothing changes if nothing changes.’ Hence, innovation is the key to everything.

If you don’t try to bring a change in the routine, you don’t grow. You don’t get better. You are not going to evolve- and that’s not good. This applies to us as humans as well as your brands. We need progress; we need new ideas and change for the betterment. With technology evolving everyday it is very important for brands to keep up with this technology and wield themselves to serve their customers better.

When a customer purchases a luxury item, they expect a certain level of service. The feeling of ‘exclusiveness’ and impeccable assistance goes hand in glove with luxury brands. Hence, changing yourself to the changing needs of customers has become the key to survival.

Here we have certain digital innovations which have taken the shopping experience for luxury fashion brands a level-up. They have taken technology and put it to use in a manner which has given them not only astonishing results but also popularity among their new set of customers- ‘Gen Z’.

1. Sustainable Materials

According to a recent study, after the oil industry, the clothing and textile industry is the largest polluter in the world. It contributes to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. There has been a shift in the consumer choices as people become more and more aware of the environmental issues the world is facing currently. Hence, technology produced materials are having a huge impact on the luxury garment sector. One such example, luxury fashion house, Salvatore Ferragamo collaborated with an Italian brand, Orange Fiber to create scarves. Orange Fiber can be used to make excellent sustainable fabrics from citrus juice by-products else that would be discarded, wasting millions of tons of precious resources. Such green fabrics, made out of discarded leaves of pineapples are also good for the body. They are non-toxic, more breathable than synthetic fabrics. Ralph Lauren’s uniforms for the US Winter Olympic and Paralympic teams featured a heating system made from electronic printed conductive inks, which was printed in carbon and silver ink in the interior of the athletes’ jackets.

2. Virtual Influencers

If you have technology and an idea, you really can have the world at your feet. At least that’s what Joerg Zuber has proved. Recently, virtual influencers have been raging the internet and high fashion luxury brands like Dior, Versace, LVMH have collaborated with such influencers. One of them, @noonoouri is a digital created 19 year old influencer who lives in Paris. With a verified account and a following of 358k she has collaborated with a number of celebrities and brands. From Kim Kardashian to Lewis Hamilton and Ariana Grande she has posts with over 10,000 likes. Noonoouri was created by Joerg Zuber in 2017. Luxury brands have started exploring such creative innovations to connect with the millennial audience who is a newly added audience for them. Other such influencers also include @lilmiquela who too is creating a frenzy over the internet with her music and posts.

3. Augmented Reality

AR most commonly uses a smartphone camera to overlay digital content into the physical world, offering both escape and practicality. It’s also a globally relevant tool. The world of Augmented reality is so vast that it has only been exploited to half of what it really can be. Luxury brands have realised that by inculcating AR technology not only has their engagement increased but also lead to an increase in sales. A person sitting in a corner of the world can now use AR and visualise how the particular Gucci bag looks in her hand or understand whether the sneaker will fit or not. Many platforms like Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook have made it easy to add AR content on their platforms. For example, Burberry launched an augmented reality feature, the tool was designed to interact with user’s camera feeds to digitally redecorate their surroundings with Burberry-inspired drawings by artist Danny Sangra. Rebecca Minkoff was one of the first brands to test and add the AR feature to their Shopify site. It made one understand that when a customer sees a particular item in their own environment they understand its various features and interact with it more. Thereafter,  getting motivated to purchase it.

4. Interactive Stores

Majority of sales for luxury fashion brands take place in stores and not online. But with technological advancements, the e-commerce sites are setting a new benchmark of what a shopping experience should be like wIth technology like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence there is almost nothing that can't happen in the brick and mortar store. In London, Tissot lets the customers try the watches virtually. Christian Dior started with VR glasses called ‘Dior Eyes’ which gave the users a sneak peek into the behind the scenes of the ready-to-wear fashion shows. Another revolutionary example includes Rebecca Minkoff, who started with interactive mirrors. These mirrors in the trial room allowed the wearer to set the light mode to see how the outfit would look under different settings- whether daytime or to a club. Such dynamic uses of innovation can increase the footfall and hence the sales to a great level!

5. Blockchain Platform

Blockchain platform is a decentralised ledger that stores transactions sequentially. It can be like a database that is shared across a private or public network. LVMH collaborated with Microsoft and Blockchain system ConsenSys to create a blockchain system for LVMH to authenticate its products. This system makes the customers understand the origins of the luxury goods, how the product was created from scratch, the efforts went into creating it and also helps the customers regarding ‘how-to-use’ the product. Transparency has become the key to sales now. Since the prices of luxury goods are so high this method will help the customers to understand what all it takes to create the product and whether it’s worth it or not. This can also help the brand to reduce the selling of counterfeit products and intellectual property protection.

6. Smart Chip Clothing

You have had a GPS chip in your phones and your smart watches. But what about clothing? Did you ever think of the smart chip as a technology being integrated in your fashion? Well, Tommy Hilfiger did. Tommy Hilfiger had introduced a range of clothing called Tommy Hilfiger ‘Xplore’ comprising clothing and accessory items like jeans, fanny packs, hoodies and t-shirts for both male and female. The twist out here is that these items are embedded with a smart chip which tracks how many times you wear that item and where all you go wearing it. The more you wear it, the more points you get which you can then redeem and win vouchers and tickets to concerts and runways. In a way, it is like Pokémon Go!

This innovation was helpful in creating a loyalty programe for the customer and led to creation of a community. Although what about privacy?The brand promised that the buyer has an opt-in opt-out option and the chip is encrypted which allows the brand to take statistics without looking at the wearer's identity.

Among millennials this trend can be a sure win-win for those who always are looking forward to being a part of some community and the freebies can be an added bonus. With many backlashes faced for this too, innovation is all about trying and risking a new idea!

Luxury fashion brands have recently started exploring technology and are coming up with innovations that are truly marvelous in their own and are getting the customers more and more involved. These brands are trying to give their customers a whole new ‘shopping experience’ and integrating digital technology with their offline store activities. It is very important for luxury fashion brands to give the consumers what they want, even before the consumers know they want it!

Luxury fashion brands have been embracing technology finally and stepping up their game. Luxury fashion brands, meanwhile, have room for headway in the space of AR/ VR/ experiential digital. As said before, this area is yet to be explored to its full potential. In the coming years, artificial intelligence and experiential digital will become just regular norms for the marketing and fashion industry.