London Fashion Week goes high tech with O2
08 February, 2008
category: NFC
O2 is planning on launching the first ever fashion industry pilot of NFC technology on mobile phones at this year’s London Fashion Week. The first known designer and fashion buyer to work with O2 to bring NFC technology to the fashion industry will be up-and-coming designer Emilio de la Morena and fashion buyer, Two See, the stylish Covent Garden boutique.
The pilot will be launched at Emilio de la Morena’s catwalk show at the Science Museum. It enables designers to instantly know which designs are likely to be the hottest by getting immediate feedback from fashion buyers attending their show.
As they leave the show, fashion buyers equipped with the Nokia 6131 NFC handset will be able to register interest in specific designs in Emilio’s collection, simply by touching their phone on specially-designed smart posters featuring the designs. Embedded tags within the smart posters automatically send a text message back to Emilio indicating which designs they are interested in.
With the main selling event – and last opportunity to sell the season’s collections – in Paris only two weeks later, feedback the designers receive from the London shows is invaluable, allowing them to tailor their collections according to the buyers’ feedback.
Emilio de la Morena, Fashion Designer, said, “Traditionally we are very much in the dark with regards to what buyers think of the collection presented in London before we present the complete collection to buyers in Paris. Our partnership with O2 means that for the first time we have a way of immediately capturing essential feedback, providing us with the time to understand what the buyers are thinking and make any changes straight away.”
Anthony Stephinson, Fashion Buyer, Two See, said, “This is a really interesting project to be a part of during London Fashion Week. As the event gathers momentum, and becomes a dominant feature in the global fashion calendar, this kind of technology will only serve to make life easier for everyone. It could be as simple as turning up to the sales appointment the next morning and having your pre-selection on a rail ready for you to work from.”
Sally Cowdry, Marketing Director, O2 UK , commented, “This pilot is an extension of our current NFC trials, where we are working with partners like Transport for London and Barclaycard on the O2 Wallet® to bring NFC technology to consumers. Customer insight has shown us that demand for NFC in the UK and this trial is a great opportunity for us to bring technology innovation to the fashion industry to help designers at a notoriously busy time in the London fashion calendar.”
