LONDON: London Fashion Week opened on Friday with a new push to boost online sales, as designers seek to turn the democratisation of the catwalk through live streaming and Twitter into cold, hard cash.

The next five days will see more than 80 designers present their spring/summer collections, a showcase of creative talent from the likes of Burberry, Vivienne Westwood, Mary Katrantzou and Christopher Kane, including a one-off show by Marchesa.

More than 5,000 visitors are expected to attend but as elsewhere, the abundance of live streaming, instant updates on Twitter and Instagram, and e-commerce sites mean the latest looks are now available to anyone with an Internet connection.

Bigger and more established names in New York, Paris and Milan are all seizing on the sales opportunity this presents.

But like a teenager showing her parents how to use the latest smartphone, London — traditionally the young upstart of the fashion world — intends to lead the way.

“London is set to be the most tech-savvy fashion capital in the world, “said Natalie Massenet, the chairman of the British Fashion Council and founder of designer fashion portal Net-a-Porter.com.

“And the overall aim is to drive sales. “The BFC, which organises London Fashion Week, has enlisted Internet giant Google to help in its efforts to get designers to boost their online presence, and a raft of new initiatives are planned this week.

On Monday, Burberry Prorsum will immediately sell the nail varnish used in its runway show direct to Twitter users, while fans of House of Holland will be able to watch Saturday’s show live online and try the clothes on their very own digital avatar.—AFP

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2014