It appears the Internet is playing a starring role in New York Fashion Week.  Several of the top designers are live streaming their runway shows this year.  Among them are Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, Rodarte, Calvin Klein, Ports 1961 and Isaac Mizrahi.  The move towards live streaming the shows online has been a growing trend from previous seasons, and momentum is building.  Will this shift jeopardize the week set aside for the fashion industry to congregate under one tent?  That remains to be seen, but until then here’s a schedule of the shows to watch online:

Alexander Wang – February 13th @ 5:oopm EST – Showstudio.com

Calvin Klein – February 18th @ 3:00pm EST – calvinkleincollections.com

Isaac Mizrahi – February 18th @ 12:00pm EST

Marc Jacobs – February 15 @ 8:00pm EST – marcjacobs.com

Ports 1961- February 11th @ 3:00pm EST – vogue.com

Rodarte – February 16th @ 12:00pm – Showstudio.com

Burberry Prorsum Spring 2010

London Fashion Week embraces the Internet for its fall 2010 runway shows, and will be streaming live.  The trend towards social media has been building within the fashion industry.  You could say Burberry has been among the leaders of this revolution, last season the design house granted live online access to its runway show.  More design houses are following this trend, and it is democratizing fashion.  Fashion is bypassing the middle-man and is now going straight to the consumer.  The design houses are essentially speaking directly to the end buyers of their merchandise.  It will be interesting to see how designers will adjust their presentation to include this new audience.  Be sure to tune in from February 19th to 24th to see Burberry Prorsum, Matthew Williamson, Sass & Bide, Pringle of Scotland, Vivienne Westwood and many more online. 

Watch London Fashion Week Live [Marie Claire] ]]> http://fashionrollcall.com/london-fashion-week-goes-live-online/feed/ 0 http://fashionrollcall.com/haute-rentals-from-the-runway/ http://fashionrollcall.com/haute-rentals-from-the-runway/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:55:13 +0000 Michelle Ava Gardner http://fashionrollcall.com/?p=2333 So you have that special event to attend, but choose to splurge on rent instead of a new designer dress.  What are your options?  Well, you could go to Rent the Runway, a new online site that rents high-end dresses at a fraction of the cost of retail.  Do I have your attention now? Their selection range [...]]]> So you have that special event to attend, but choose to splurge on rent instead of a new designer dress.  What are your options?  Well, you could go to Rent the Runway, a new online site that rents high-end dresses at a fraction of the cost of retail.  Do I have your attention now?

Their selection range from Diane Von Furstenberg, Proenza Schouler, Badgley Mischka, Giambattista Valli, to Herve Leger, and the rentals will cost between $50 to $200.  They are shipped to your home, and returned in a pre-paid envelope.  The dress is essentially yours for four nights, but don’t take that too literally because it could cost you.  Handle the merchandise with care because if you destroy it, congratulations, you’ve bought it. 

It sounds simple enough, if you don’t count the waitlist of 20,000 women who’ve already signed up for the service.  The concept is definitely recession friendly; Rent the Runway has the ability to capture the market of women who merely want to borrow instead of own. 

A Netflix Model for Haute Couture [NYT/Tech]

Who says that good things can’t come from a down market?  The private event sale sites have been thriving in this economic environment, and have seen a great deal of activity this week.  So we have named them to this week’s Rollcall list. 

It is such a lucrative business that Saks Fifth Avenue recently held its own private sale by invitation only.  Today we learned that even the DailyCandy is joining the ranks of the members only sale events.  They are launching Swirl, an online sample sale site where they will sell designer clothes and accessories at up to 80 percent off.  If that wasn’t enough, Rue La La was purchased this week by GSI Commerce. 

These invitation/members-only sites are getting a boost during the recession, and hopefully the same goes for their bottom-line.  Sites like the Gilt Groupe acquire sample pieces from designers and place them online for sale at a fraction of the retail cost. 

There has been a great deal of activity this week with these private event sale sites, and the odds are good that we will see many more in the near future.  Take a look at the video below of Gilt Groupe co-founder, Alexandra Wilkis, as she described the private event sale business back in August. 

Private-Sale Sites Grow in a Struggling Economy [WSJ/Blog]

DailyCandy Joins the World of Online Sample Sales  [Racked]