Tag Archives: Fashion

MTV VMAs 2024: Shoppable Live TV Takes Center Stage

Artificial Intelligence, Communications, Lifestyle, Millenials, Technology, , , ,

The 2024 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) transformed the viewing experience with a growing  partnership between Paramount Global and Shopsense AI. This collaboration enabled real-time shopping of outfits and designer looks featured during the awards show, and marked a significant shift in content monetization for legacy media companies.

Shopsense’s AI-powered lens allowed viewers to snap photos of outfits during the show, browse similar items suggested by their product recognition algorithm, and make purchases directly from their phones. This seamless shopping experience was designed to enhance engagement and for users to “go through that shopping journey without pausing the content” according to Shopsense’s co-founder and president Bryan Quinn in an interview with CNBC.

In the age of streaming, as traditional TV advertising revenues decline, media companies like Paramount are looking for innovative solutions to boost profits. This new live shopping feature is expected to drive consumer engagement and conversion rates during high-profile events like the VMAs. As the AI continues to improve, it is predicted that this trend will proliferate with other media giants like Disney exploring similar shoppable ad formats.

Retailers including Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Urban Outfitters are leveraging this partnership to capture consumer interest at the moment they’re inspired by what they see on TV. The approach capitalizes on impulse buying, offering curated collections and lookalikes at various price points. As AI continues to transform the advertising and retail sectors, live shopping represents a growing trend that blends entertainment and commerce. This partnership could shape the future of shopping by turning live television into an interactive retail experience.

Digital Fashion is the New Trend

Brands, Consumerism, Technology, , ,

Lablaco is an Italian company that helps fashion brands digitize their products. The idea behind the movement is that, like many industries, it’s only a matter of time before the fashion world goes completely digital. The “phygital” fashion market will see consumers purchasing both physical items and their digital “twins” which avatars will wear in the metaverse.

In an effort to establish a more sustainable and profitable approach to fashion, Lorenzo Albrighi and Eliana Kuo co-founded Lablaco in 2016 and serve as co-CEOs. They are believers in circular fashion, where clothing is designed and produced with methods focused on reducing waste. The pair hopes to use blockchain technology to promote this effort.

In the model developed by Lablaco, when a physical item is purchased, its digital equivalent remains paired to it. If the physical item is resold, its digital twin moves to the owner’s digital wallet, so that authenticity is apparent and the designer can follow where its creation goes.

While the fashion industry presently generates 92 million tons of waste each year, digitizing fashion will significantly reduce these numbers. If a designer currently needs to create an item in 10 different colors to test it out, the same item can be released into the metaverse in 10 different hues. Sales specs could be studied to determine which version to produce physically.

In the metaverse, opportunities are endless. While this is a new spin for fashion, it is clear that many industries in the world are headed in this direction. And, as usual, fashion will continue to keep up with the times.

BoF Holds Summit on Making Fashion a More Responsible Industry

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Fashion Show Finale

Entitled “How to Build a Responsible Fashion Business,” Business of Fashion (BoF) held a professional summit broadcast live on June 17, 2020. On the agenda were such pressing subjects as racial equality, workers’ rights, and climate change.

The impetus for the summit was, as a huge industry, the fashion community has a moral obligation to take a good hard look at how it contributes to the crisis wreaking havoc in the world today and can be a force for change towards better practices and improvement.

The summit considered all aspects of the industry: from the expectations of shareholders to employees, garment workers, the greater society, and finally the entire world.

During 2019 the global fashion industry created 114 billion clothing pieces. Most of those were cheap, disposable garments, made in huge numbers, using a seemingly endless amount of natural resources. Add to this excessive use of resources also the burden on workers who toil under poor, and worse conditions at a gigantic social and environmental cost.

In addition to this challenge is that of racism found within the fashion industry. Although the industry has been making money off black culture, the power structure of the industry is overwhelmingly white. The only two black creative directors of major global brands are Olivier Rousteing and Virgil Abloh. There is an equal lack of black representation among CEOs as well.

The BoF Professional Summit was a half-day of conversations, workshops, keynote addresses, and panels all to address the profound issues affecting the industry and the world.