A key strategic partnership between leading Singapore based publisher SPH Magazines, multi-brand fashion ecommerce store Inverted Edge and New Zealand Fashion Week has made this possible.
When you combine an exclusive New Zealand shopping event in Singapore, half a million dollars worth of editorial coverage in Singapore’s top selling fashion and lifestyle magazine and huge exposure on leading e-commerce site SheShops.com, and SPH initiative run by Inverted Edge you create the key elements of The New Zealand Fashion Project pushing the NZFW designers into the spotlight.
Months of research was put into this initiative by the team in Singapore including SPH Publishing Director, Bridget Hope, Inverted Edge CEO, Debra Langley who are both Kiwis and Inverted Edge Chief Buyer, Sophie Hennard.
They all attended the NZFW in 2014 to handpick the designers.
“This initiative is a great launch-pad for the designers as it gives them the opportunity to test their commercial viability in a highly competitive South East Asian market, with almost no risk,” says Hope.
Among the 10 designers to be chosen were Zambesi, Nom*D, Kate Sylvester, Juliette Hogan, Kowtow, Blak, Stolen Girlfriends, Storm, Hailwood and I Am by Andrea Moore.
The curated edit of designers will have a huge audience of shoppers via the multi channel media strategy across a range of platforms – editorial, tablet, print, online etc.
The designers have also had extensive coverage in the April print and online editions of eight of SPH’s top titles and websites including Harpers Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and Cleo reached 1.6 million online and print readers.
This exceptional brand building opportunity is translating directly into sales for the Kiwi designers, as readers who view their magazines on tablet devices are able to simply touch an outfit on-screen to be redirected to the specific garment on SheShops.com where they can purchase the garments straight from the page.
An exclusive shopping event held later this month hosted by the Australia and New Zealand Association (ANZA) and Harper’s Bazaar Singapore will further give shoppers the chance to see, touch and shop the NZFW designers.
Though SheShops is an online platform, the New Zealand Fashion Week Shopping Night Out on April 30 provided members with an exclusive opportunity to purchase the clothes in person.
Hope is originally from New Zealand but is now based in Singapore and says the country is an excellent launching pad for Kiwi designers.
NZFW Managing Director, Dame Pieter Stewart sees the partnership as an unprecedented opportunity for the New Zealand fashion industry to gain traction not just in Singapore but also the wider Asian region.
“The only English speaking country in Asia and a top travel destination (voted the world’s number one place to visit in 2015 by Lonely Planet), Singapore is also a leader in terms of economic development. Fashion shoppers there are discerning, stylish and also wired. A multi-media approach like this is perfect to reach these shoppers. It’s an amazing way for New Zealand designers to truly get to understand the needs of the middle class Asian market” Stewart comments.
“The New Zealand Fashion Project is a ground breaking opportunity for NZFW designers and one that would not be possible without the media support and e-commerce capabilities of SPH Magazines and Inverted Edge. It is the single largest opportunity offered to designers in the 15 year history of NZFW,” she says.
NZFW continue to develop international opportunities for Kiwi designers. Work is well underway to secure the best possible delegates for this year’s fashion week to drive more international sales and exposure for designers as the NZ Fashion Project is now doing so successfully in Singapore.
