Kiwi designers are forging a place of their own in the competitive South East Asian market, made possible by a key strategic partnership between leading Singapore based publisher SPH Magazines (SPH), multi-brand fashion ecommerce store Inverted Edge and the country’s biggest international fashion event, New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW).
An exclusive New Zealand shopping event in Singapore, half a million dollars worth of editorial coverage in Singapore’s top selling fashion and lifestyle magazines and huge exposure on leading e-commerce site SheShops.com, an SPH initiative run by Inverted Edge, are key elements of The New Zealand Fashion Project pushing 10 NZFW designers into the spotlight in South East Asia.
Following months of research from Singapore the team behind the dedicated multi channel media strategy: SPH Publishing Director – Bridget Hope, Inverted Edge CEO – Debra Langley, (both Kiwis) and Inverted Edge Chief Buyer – Sophie Hennard, were brought to New Zealand to attend NZFW 2014 and handpick the designers.
Established names as well as emerging talent make up the 10 strong list of designers chosen to take centre stage in Singapore including Zambesi, Nom*D, Kate Sylvester, Juliette Hogan, Kowtow, Blak, Stolen Girlfriends Club, Storm, Hailwood and I AM by Andrea Moore.
The expertly curated edit of New Zealand designers will reach a huge audience of shoppers via the multi channel media strategy which includes 24 editorial print pages, 24 editorial tablet pages, 16 online editorials, multiple print and digital advertisements as well as banner ads, electronic newsletters, social media posts and an exclusive shopping event.
Extensive coverage of the designers in the April print and online editions of eight of SPH’s top titles and websites including Harpers Bazaar, The Singapore Women’s Weekly, Cosmopolitan and CLEO has resulted in $500,000 worth of editorial coverage with spreads in each magazine dedicated solely to the Kiwi brands, reaching 1.6 million online and print readers combined.
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 this month and 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 30th will provide members with an exclusive opportunity to purchase the clothes in person.
In 2015 developing international opportunities continues as a key strategic focus for NZFW, with work well underway to secure the best possible delegates for the event, those who will continue drive tangible sales and international exposure for NZFW designers as the NZ Fashion Project is now doing so successfully in Singapore.