What Fashion Can Learn from Music & Silicon Valley

[Note: I meant to post this back in Dec. 2016 when I created it, but somehow got stuck in my drafts…better late than never!]

The fashion industry is facing a digital revolution as every aspect of the customer touchpoint evolves: retail, media, marketing, sustainability, communication, data vs. gut, culture. LVMH’s hiring of Ian Rogers (former CEO of Beats by Dre) as it’s Chief Digital Officer (lead on the recently launched 24 Sevres e-commerce site) is a sign that digital is no longer a separate team/division/mindset — if it is, then you are not prepared for the revolution.

Interesting interviews at The Business of Fashion (BoF) VOICES event between:

• Imran Amed (CEO, BoF) and Ian Rogers.
• Ian Rogers and will.i.am (music artist).

Imran Amed (The Business of Fashion) & Ian Rogers (LVMH)

Key notes:

• “Like music, the fashion business is fundamentally a culture business. We sell culture as a prerequisite to selling a product. If you don’t buy the culture of the brand, you are not going to buy a $3,000 handbag. You’re buying what that communicates in terms of cultural value. At the same time, fashion doesn’t suffer from same fundamental value loss as music. That’s because — at least for now — luxury clothing and accessories can’t be digitised in the same way as music or other media content.”
• “This is not a technological revolution, it’s a cultural revolution. It’s not about digital. We never talked about digital when I was at Apple. It’s like talking about oxygen all the time; it’s just the world. This is about something much more specific: the internet and the way human beings are connected.”
• “The luxury business is in a great position relative to where the world is going. For one, the internet is pushing the world from mass markets to niche markets, which is good for the luxury business, which is actually a mass of niches.” — contrasting the hyper-specific identities of luxury fashion brands to the likes of mass-market giants like Wal-Mart and Gap. “Secondly, because consumers have unlimited choice and the customer’s voice is so loud, we are moving from a world where marketing has hyperefficiency to a world where quality has hyperefficiency,” favoring brands that are genuinely high-quality and willfully disseminated across networks.”
• “Connection amongst people is what’s really changing.”

Ian Rogers (LVMH) & will.i.am (music artist)

Key notes:

• “I am my data,” said will.i.am, predicting that a personalized AI would live “in your ear,” get to know you and your needs and communicate via audio, much like the artificial intelligence Samantha in the Spike Jonze film Her.
• “Fashion should prepare for tomorrow because tomorrow is totally different. It’s possible that a tech company is the fashion of tomorrow.”
• Fashion needs to build technology within.
• Prepare future generations by investing in education, in computer science. Majority of schools have football, basketball, and baseball programs. This benefits 3 organizations: NFL, NBA, MLB. Focus needs to shift towards computer science.

Original piece by The Business of Fashion here.