FASHION

THE TRENDS / CLUB MONACO / DIGITAL CAMPAIGN / CRASH MAGAZINE

THE TRENDS / CLUB MONACO-FIRST BRAND TO STREAM A DIGITAL LOOKBOOK ON TUMBLR

By Crash redaction

Until now, no brand had ever done it before: launching an entire digital fashion lookbook exclusively on TUMBLR. The international brand Club Monaco teamed-up with TUMBLR in order to unveil the first interactive fashion collection. Why no one has ever done it before !

The brand proposes a wide range of the must-have fashion pieces, it accessories unveiled to followers month before even being in stores, a way for the brand to get a closer relationship with their customers.

To introduce the new fashion lookbook on TUMBLR, Club Monaco has also chosen famous bloggers instead of models to embody the new automn collection. Each blogger reflects at least one of the Club Monaco Culture Club Pillars such as fashion, photography, travel, art, food and music.

The campaign was shot by Justin Chung a famous photographer and TUMBLR user.

Here is the list of the bloggers chosen for the new campaign:

Le Blog De Betty – A Fashion, Travel and Lifestyle Tumblr by Betty Autier

Camille Over the Rainbow – A Fashion Tumblr by Camille Charrière

After The Cups – A Photography & Food Tumblr by Alice Gao

The Only Magic Left is Art – An Art Tumblr by Brandon C. Long

You Have Broken The Internet & TravelWell – A Photography & Travel Tumblr by Ryan Plett

Sincerely Jules – A Fashion Tumblr by Jules Sarinana

Twin Shadow – A Music Tumblr by George Louis Jr.

A Well-Traveled Woman – A Travel Tumblr by Bekah Stewart

Interview from Ann Watson Vice President Marketing & Communications at Club Monaco

What is the concept of Club Monaco Fall 1 Collection?

The Fall 1 2013 Collection is inspired by a uniquely modern sense of juxtaposition: the contemporary feminine persona as confronted in the photography of Cindy Sherman, awkward versus pretty, playful versus quirky, strong and minimal versus soft .

For women, timeless styles and shapes are re-worked in traditional fabrics like eyelet, cloque, and lace, playing off more structured fabrics like bonded cottons, quilted pieces, double knits, jacquards, and neoprene for contrast. Eccentricity and clean lines run throughout the collection and are accented by details like faux texture patterns, unexpected trims, and pops of color in African and 1960s inspired op prints.

The Men’s Collection also explores the idea of modernity and mixed media in new updated classics: dressed down tailored pieces are mixed with cool knits, 1960s inspiration is reinterpreted in modern silhouettes, and traditional styles are infused with a nod to hi-tech functionality.

There are prints in both bottoms and shirting, denim in black and indigo, garment washed bombers and tonal varsity jackets, dress shirts and vintage inspired sweaters. Details include quilting, taped seams, bonded cotton, and fabric covered buttons

Why did you decide to stream the collection on TUMBLR ?

The social lookbook idea was spurred by wanting to continue to evolve our seasonal lookbooks. Each season we are looking for the next chapter, the next idea, that will support the brands position as being a destination for today’s cultural influences.

This year; for Fall 1 lookbook we thought, let’s take the press room that lives on our ecommerce site which has been primary a public relations tool — and take it one step further. Let’s make it consumer-facing! In a world of consumers who are on their mobile and on social platforms, we thought, we could take this idea to the Tumblr community and give it legs with our consumers. We’re basically taking a PR tool and making it into a social media platform. With the line between traditional press and consumer blurring, thanks to social media, we feel the social lookbook is reflection of this trend; and respectful of the social media outlets that drive so much interest in our brand story.

This allows us to give the consumer a deeper experience with the brand and product. With a social lookbook we’re giving consumers inside access into Club Monaco; a look at trends, patterns and colors months before they hit stores. We’re giving them a more engaging experience — where they can curate, create and share our imagery. In effect, consumers can become their own editors and develop their own wide-scale fashion community.

Why did you decide to use bloggers instead of models ?
For Fall 1 2013, we wanted to create a truly ‘social’ lookbook on tumblr; and to do this we knew that we needed to embrace the Tumblr community even more, while at the same time stay true to the pillars of our current tumblr. Also, by using a social-savvy cast and launching the lookbook on Tumblr, we give the lookbook legs to spread easily online and throughout the digital world. We wanted this to be personal, organic to the consumer and to our brand, with this the cast featured in the lookbook reflected one of the pillars of the culture club: food, music, art and travel. Even the photographer, Justin Chung, came from the world of social influencer. Justin has amassed over 75 thousand followers on his photography-inspired Tumblr page.

According to you, how important are the social medias when it gets to fashion ?

Social media is extremely important to Club Monaco. The team at Club Monaco grew up in the digital generation and although Club Monaco is fairly new to social media the employees are not and neither are our consumers. It’s important for our brand to create a two-way dialog with the consumer — listening to them, hearing their feedback on our product and getting enthusiastic by their social discussions. We are always inspired and, actually flattered, when bloggers wear our clothes. We love to see them style our clothing and accessories and incorporate them into their own distinctive personality. They are truly a part of driving cultural conversation for our brand. Bloggers have been a part of Club Monaco’s heritage for more than 3 years — from blogger and photographer Garance Dore curating and casting our Fall 2010 lookbook, a design collaboration with Tommy Ton, to using bloggers as models in the Fall 1 2013 social lookbook. Our brand is driven by social media and it is the fundamental strategy to reaching, engaging and conversing with our consumers.