All you have to do is create a Wish List featuring at least five of your favorite vintage-inspired Airbnb finds and share it with friends! Easy, right? And multiple winners will receive gift cards from ModCloth and Airbnb.
And here’s my Wish List titled, “Vogueabond”. My list features a place to stay in each fashion capital of the world, perfect for anyone searching for local vintage fashion finds.
Summer is officially here, but many e-tailers have been ready for days, or even weeks, with cool, glamorous, and even quirky site design updates.
Coach: This brand’s site opens with a short video of a dog climbing in and out and around a few different Coach handbags before shifting to the question, “What’s in your tote?” Coach definitely knows how to market to my demographic well by including two of our favorite things- cute animals and colorful handbags.
Prabal Gurung: As soon as you arrive to Gurung’s homepage, various images of a model in the designer’s Spring dresses appear, taking over the whole screen. Visually driven? Yes. Springlike? Very. A bit erotic? Maybe Gurung was reading 50 Shades of Gray when this campaign was designed. All in all, the dresses highlighted are beyond beautiful. You can’t help but click to see what’s next.
Hermes: Though this site has other hand drawn images, this is my favorite. It’s creative (almost Target-esque in the way one item becomes something else- a man’s tie used as a cape in this instance) and catchy. Anyone shopping on the site can remember when they were little and they saw their Father, or Father figure, as superman.
What seasonal site updates have you been admiring lately?
The other night I was spending some time browsing ASOS (one of my favorite online shopping destinations for the past three years) and noticed a few changes to the site, which led me to do some research on the brand. A lot of changes have taken place lately!
Under the Marketplace section of the site, users can now shop independent boutiques and labels. So far, brands from the UK, US, Ireland, New Zealand, Russia, and Sweden are participating. And, each boutique has a blog so visitors can see what’s new and learn about a brand’s view on fashion and lifestyle.
Outfits & Looks
Under the Outfits & Looks part of the site, users can assemble outfits (very Polyvore inspired) and can upload pictures of themselves (very LookBook.nu style) to be judged. Very smart of ASOS to incorporate ideas from two major fashion websites to make its own site more social. But, it would be nice to only see images that clearly include at least one piece from the ASOS site for inspiration. Maybe this could be an idea for a contest?
Blog focusing on music
The other new section is Blogs, which is comprised of five blogs. Each one has a different subject, including one about styles seen during Fashion Week and one with a music related theme (guess someone else reads The Vogue Vibes?). Personally I don’t see the point of 5 separate blogs on the main section of the website, unless the brand is trying to ultimately be both a social shopping destination and editorial go-to place. After all, fashion magazines and eCommerce are merging these days.
iOS App
In addition to making the eCommerce site more social, ASOS has also been busy delving into the mobile space by recently launching a shopping app (available on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad).
During a recent press release, E-Commerce Director James Hart said, “Following year-on-year growth of over 800% in mobile revenue, I’m delighted to release our iPad and iPhone shopping apps.”
Key features of the app include full integration between it, the website, and the mobile site, a “Save for Later” option (something I wish the website offered for a longer period of time), and GPS, for helping with locations where customers can drop off returns.
Global Strategy: with a Focus on Men
ASOS is also working on a marketing campaign to reach for a larger global customer base.
Specifically, the brand hopes to target more male shoppers through a new campaign for which brand has released a few videos that introduce the Urban Tour. ASOS hopes to entice more men to shop on its website by incorporating dance and other forms of pop culture, which is where most men get their fashion inspiration from (not runways). Soon, viewers will be able to click of dancers from some of the campaign videos and purchase.
Here is the teaser video:
Oh, and a few more things- ASOS has a section of the site dedicated to the brand’s favorite Twitter users, its Facebook page is constantly updated (with contests!), and has found a way to incorporate Instagram. All in all, I’m impressed with all of the digital changes ASOS is making these days. Other fashion brands can learn a LOT by seeing ASOS’ fashion marketing lately.
Anyone else knock-your-stilettos-off impressed?
International Intrigue
Edited by Taylor Davies
This weeks selections for Links a la Mode take us all around the globe and back again. From vintage shopping in Paris and Istanbul to picking the best from fashion weeks abroad, our community is buzzing with news and thoughts from overseas.
Of course we couldn’t leave out some more local stories entirely, so we’ve sprinkled in a selection of fall inspirations from som American bloggers; from menswear to DIY projects to some ethical debates in advertising and journalism.
THE IFB WEEKLY ROUNDUP: LINKS À LA MODE: OCTOBER 6TH
The Red Dot: Paris Fashion Week Street Style Part 1
PLEASE READ IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE
If you would like to submit your link for next week’s Links à la Mode, please register first, then post your links HERE. The HTML code for this week will be found in the Links a la Mode group will be published later today. ~Jennine
If you haven’t heard of ModCloth yet, know this, they’re one of a kind!
Why? Well, not only does the e-retail site feature both vintage and vintage inspired (aka indie) clothing, shoes, accessories and apartment finds, don’t forget to check out the blog before leaving. More than 20 fashion bloggers contribute to the ModCloth blog, discussing everything from ModCloth news to ModMusic. I also like how a new blogger of the moment is featured seemingly every few days, which includes an interview about his/her style and personality.
In addition to incorporating outside style bloggers, this company is very social. Already, I’ve seen ModCloth on Facebook, Kaboodle, MySpace, Twitter, and (personal favorite) Polyvore. On each of these sites, ModCloth brings something unique to the table. For example, right now there are a few weekly Twitter contests, including the Thursday “I Spy” game. This game is especially smart because it gets followers to not only check out the website for the right answer, but also engage with the brand in a creative way.
But want to really engage fans of your brand? Throw a party.
Earlier this week, ModCloth took the social offline as well, with their “Behind the Scenes” party to celebrate their move to San Francisco. Between meeting a good amount of the ModCloth staff, including Chief Creative Officer, Co-Founder Susan Gregg Koger (she’s on the right), and enjoying a fun atmosphere complete with a great DJ and open bar, I had a blast!
True to ModCloth style, there were also two contests at the event. One, called “Be the Buyer”, let party goers choose from the six garments to pick or skip. The piece with enough votes, will be produced and sold exclusively on ModCloth.com.
The second contest, called “Name It and Win It” invited us to choose the final name of this dress. In the first round, ModCloth customers were asked (by way of blog) to name the dress. After hundreds of suggested names were sorted through, the favorite four were selected my the team for us to choose from.
The last contest, well more of a dance off really, happened later in the evening after the drinks kicked in. Let’s just say, Michael Jackson was involved, and no, there aren’t any pictures.
Anyway, this is one company to watch. I’m curious to see just how the company will use its new funding of $19.8 million. In the meantime, welcome to San Francisco, ModCloth!
*Click here for the rest of my pictures from the event!
pretty-innovative.com 