Trey Laird, David Lipman, and Riccardo Ruini weigh in on fashion industry next steps
Change is the only constant and fashion, by its very nature, thrives on it. Yet climate shifts like the recent coronavirus pandemic have shifted the landscape so dramatically it can be difficult to even recognize.
The new view has allowed for more dialogue around a series of questions our industry has been struggling to answer for some time. What is the correct scale of fashion consumption and how can we assure we don’t pollute the world to find it? Are we delivering too much, too fast, and at the right time? How can we be inclusive while selling goods that are mainly exclusive? How do we manage to go forward with a business structure founded on the community of trade shows and fashion weeks?
Our consumers have questions, too. Mainly around what role does fashion play in their lives, aspirations, and dreams.
Last week we watched as Prada opened their production facilities in Tuscany while politicians worldwide grappled with plans of opening up communities and commerce. Opening up the world again isn’t a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ and ‘how.’ Posing all-new questions like what is the right communication path for brands?
To gain insight on what is next post-reopening, The Impression went out to industry creative thought leaders Trey Laird, David Lipman, and Riccardo Ruini to ask, ‘How should brands think of connecting with customers as they come out of lockdown?‘
Coming out of an unprecedented crisis like this, I feel the most important 3 things brands can offer is authenticity, honestly, and inspiration. Being true to what you represent as a brand, but respecting the tone of the times is always going to be the North Star!
– Trey Laird, Chief Creative Director Laird+Partners
“A sexy, glam & flashy brand like Versace can’t all of the sudden turn around and try to become an indie do-good brand like a Tom or a Feed. At the same time, interpreting any given brand’s unique voice and DNA to respect the world we find ourselves in will be key. Brands like Nike, that have encouraged their base to “Play Inside” through this crisis are the best examples of staying true to your position & purpose, yet addressing the realities of the new world.”
The connection brands will have to have with their consumers has to be pure, real, and emotional. The messaging has to connect and hit a nerve. We still dream. Maybe more now than ever.
– David Lipman, Chief Creative Director Lipman Studio
These are times that no marketer can lead. We are in a moment in time when none of us truly know. I’ve been shooting a documentary about NYC and Friday night we were in Times Square at 2 am. Ninety percent of the messages on the billboards were messages directed at COVID-19. It felt disingenuous and more than half of the people in a crowded Times Square didn’t have masks on. Most of the people were young millennials. The youth of America feels invincible. The dream is still alive.
The connection brands will have to have with their consumers has to be pure, real, and emotional. The messaging has to connect and hit a nerve. We still dream. Maybe more now than ever. What are these dreams? As I’m shooting this film – I hear them. And this is what I’m going to tap into.
First of all, I truly hope that the end of the lockdown will see the end of the Instagram live interviews! Surely that isn’t the right way to connect with customers unless the idea is to kill them with boring interviews of “fashion” people mostly talking about themselves from typically ugly settings and with the horrible light and point of view of laptop cameras.
– Riccardo Ruini, Chief Creative Director Riccardo Ruini Studio
To answer what would be next would take a crystal ball! I’ve been spending the lockdown reading articles (including a lot from The Impression), talking to brands, and studying how to possibly approach the near future. But the present is so unstable and varies from day to day according to the health situation that the future is uncertain.
We won’t be in a government lockdown forever, but a social lockdown will definitely emerge. We are in the middle of a pandemic and we are re-opening when the numbers are actually higher than when we closed down. So the effect of this will last longer and will affect everyone.
The fashion world will have to change in terms of timing and the way we approach it. Saint Laurent’s statement about their new rules to showing is just the first of possibly many changes with Giorgio Armani actually being the first. As always, when there is a crisis or a war, we have to change things faster and try other things that were never tested before, especially in terms of technology. That is where my focus is today. How do we get to our audience in a different way but keep the language high, innovative, and beautiful, as fashion language always must be? All with smaller budgets, and fewer chances to travel so we can be more conscious. It’s challenging, but with new challenges, we will find new forms of creativity.
First of all, I truly hope that the end of the lockdown will see the end of the Instagram live interviews! Surely that isn’t the right way to connect with customers unless the idea is to kill them with boring interviews of “fashion” people mostly talking about themselves from typically ugly settings and with the horrible light and point of view of laptop cameras.
Ideas and storytelling will always win and we need to engage an audience that is listening now more than ever, hoping to hear something great and new at this moment. We can’t wait until Fall to create it, we must be ready to do something special and innovative for Fall. We have been forced to use more technology than ever before, and have to embrace it as there is no coming back from that. So, this is where we need to go and find the right narrative and medium.