The new model: as Gigi Hadid prepares to take to the Tommy Hilfiger runway, a fashion revolution is nigh

When Gigi Hadid takes to the Tommy Hilfiger catwalk in New York tonight, it will signal the start of a fashion revolution. The wait is over - ‘buy now’ is here, says Karen
Karen Dacre9 September 2016

Never mind flares and those peplum-trim tops that were considered popular with capital-dwellers for all of half a nanosecond - the style world’s most outmoded concept is the fashion show.

At least it is in its most traditional form: a costly and exclusive affair that parades luxury fashion before an audience of industry insiders six months before consumers (the lifeline of most fashion businesses) are invited to get their hands on it.

Tonight, when the clock in New York’s Grand Central Station strikes 7pm and Londoners are simultaneously contemplating a midnight gin and tonic, this will change forever. Following a lengthy and complicated “rewiring” process, US superbrand Tommy Hilfiger is to kick-start a “see now, buy now” revolution with a showcase that is set to redefine the way we consume fashion.

The bold move, to be emulated by some other 25 brands and which will make their collections immediately available following the upcoming shows, is the first nail in the coffin of the catwalk show as we know it.

Hilfiger’s production will be followed at New York Fashion Week by Michael Kors, which is expected to make a less dramatic shift towards the new model, and then in London by Burberry, which will make its entire collection available immediately after it is unveiled on the catwalk. High street retailer Topshop has also recently announced plans to follow suit.

No half-hearted affair, the #TommyNow production (the show is so modern it comes with its own hashtag and title) will be about as far from the ordinary catwalk concept as you can imagine. Not least because it will ensure that each item unveiled on its runway will be immediately available to customers after it is paraded on the catwalk but because for the first time in fashion’s recent history it is consumers, not fashion editors, who will be the VIP guests.

Taking place on Manhattan’s Pier 16 - rebranded Tommy Pier for the occasion - the two-day event, to which 1,000 Tommy customers are invited, has been entirely designed with the shopper in mind. To this end, it is not all about front-row seats and the photographers pit but a fairground featuring a Ferris wheel, a tattoo artist as well as a catwalk show in which attendees will be invited to watch as the brand unveils TommyxGigi, its debut collaboration with mega-model Gigi Hadid, alongside a selection of outfits from the autumn/winter collection.

Tommy Hilfiger x Gigi Hadid - in pictures

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For Hilfiger himself, whose multi-million-dollar brand is owned by Amsterdam-based conglomerate Phillips-Van Heusen, the showcase is all about giving the customer what she wants. “We listened to the consumer and they told us they want immediate gratification. They don’t want to wait six months. This is about pleasing them,” he said. “It is about engaging them in a new way and about creating a memorable experience that resonates for a long time.”

Describing Hadid as “all-American with an exotic twist”, Hilfiger is hopeful that the show - to be opened by the model this evening - will incite retail hysteria from her fans. And not just those in attendance -. who will be invited to shop the collection using touchscreen technology - but from shoppers across the globe, who will be able to bag their products through the live streamed video on the Tommy website as well as on its social media platforms.

Each item on the catwalk will be instantly available to buy online as well as in Tommy stores around the globe, including Regent Street and Brompton Road.

The collection will also be available at a host of UK retailers including ASOS, Selfridges and Harrods. The TommyxGigi collection will be available in more than 70 countries.

Hadid describes the collaboration, a homage to Tommy’s trademark American style and her first foray into fashion design, as “true to my style”. “I wanted it to be something that when people look at they know I was the one who designed it,” she said, describing Hilfiger as a “trailblazer”.

Behind the scenes, the process has been far from plain sailing. “The most challenging part has been moving away from the traditional cycle,” says Avery Baker, chief marketing officer for Tommy Hilfiger. “Ultimately we want to give a seamless experience, closing the gap between the visibility of a fashion show and the moment of purchase. Digital innovations have been crucial to this way of doing business.”

Avery is not the only one who feels this way. In a recent conversation with Vogue journalist Hamish Bowles, Burberry’s Christopher Bailey stressed the significance of technological developments to the heritage brand’s new approach. “We will look back on this time as like the great industrial revolution — because it is,” he said. “Our lives are changing so dramatically.”

Accordingly, when Michael Kors stages his show next Wednesday, his collection will be supported by the launch of Michael Kors Access, a smart watch created through a partnership with Android and Google. Topshop is also expected to rely on strong digital partnerships to ensure its latest collections reach huge numbers of people at lightning speed.

Critics of the buy-now model are concerned that this need for speed will make it difficult for smaller designers, who take a lot longer to produce collections because of the time and cost constraints. Some also believe that the pressure to work to a buy-now business model will have a damaging effect on the creative process.

Lizzy Bowring, director of catwalks at the fashion forecasting and fashion analyst WGSN, predicts we will see brands looking to ensure that elements of their collections are available immediately after their showcase instead of going the whole hog.

“Perhaps the idea of see-now-buy-now will only affect a certain portion of a collection but the expense of producing enough quantity to satisfy the demand can only be available to the larger more financially stable brands,” she says.

Away from the luxury market the clothes we see on the high street could also be affected. Notably because Zara et al will no longer be the only ones able to produce of the moment fashion at pace.

“If the see-now-buy-now experience becomes a reality, the future of shopping will change drastically,” says Bowring. “The entire supply system will have to change, from the planning of seasonal buying to selecting materials, the manufacturing and delivery process. In an ailing retail industry the excitement that is generated can only be a huge positive for the future of retail.”

Hang on to your handbags, the revolution is nigh.

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