Halston Collection to Be Sold by Net-A-Porter Day After Show

Posted on January 31, 2008 
Filed Under Fashion Designers, Fashion Finds, Fashion Week News, Halston, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Net-A-Porter, New York Fashion Week

Halston’s Back! The iconic American label returns to the fashion spotlight!

According to Women’s Wear Daily, the new Halston Collection will be on sale the day after the runway show at New York Fashion Week next month.

Net-A-Porter, an online retailer of designer clothing, has worked out a deal with Halston to feature exclusive coverage of the show and also to feature and ship items from the new collection starting 24 hours after the runway show on February 4, 2008.

“The pièce de résistance, though, marks a major departure in the cycle of fashion: The day after the show, Net-a-porter will begin selling two of Halston’s fall runway looks on its site, with same-day delivery in London and New York and anywhere else in the world the day after.”

This is a never-before seen event that could create big changes in the fashion industry. Designs from the runway shows are going to be accessible to the public must faster than has traditionally been the case.

“The move is groundbreaking in several ways. At a time when customers can see runway looks on fashion sites and blogs within hours of a designer’s final exit, and stores ask for earlier and earlier deliveries based on the strength of pre-collections, many industry executives are increasingly questioning the commercial validity of the much-hyped bi-annual runway extravaganzas. The clothes on the runways of New York, London, Milan and Paris typically hit retailers several months after the shows, long after the media buzz around them has faded and with plenty of time for copycat manufacturers to move in and offer similar looks at lower qualities and prices.”

Two items from the collection will be featured for sale: a daytime shirt dress and a silk evening dress. Net-A-Porter has distribution centers in New York and London, meaning the items will be available same-day, and the day after elsewhere in the world. Net-A-Porter has a global audience and provides worldwide express shipping.

“On Feb. 5, 24 hours after the Halston show, Net-a-porter will present a video clip including an interview with the brand’s current creative director, Marco Zanini. It is expected to highlight Halston’s relevance to the present day, and feature Zanini, a Versace alum, discussing his view of the brand and his inspirations for the fall collection. Net-a-porter also will separately feature edited video footage of the runway show. Shoppers can then click and buy two Halston looks, a $1,495 shirt dress for daytime, and a $1,795 evening silk dress. And in what is sure to be considered a fashion first, they can wear the looks out in London and New York, where Net-a-porter has shipping centers, that same day, and elsewhere the day after.”

Is such a bold new move a risk? How can Net-A-Porter feel secure that it will sell these items? Are there any concerns with buying so much inventory ahead of time?

“We buy because we know our customer,” Natalie Massenet, chairman and founder of Net-A-Porter, said. “We have an unbelievable knowledge of our customer and know what they liked in the past, what they tend to buy, we know their sizes, and through that, we can make educated decisions. But it does start with loving the product, and we feel confident that this will be a success.”

This will be a limited edition buy, so if you’re interested in buying one of the new dresses from the Halston collection (and can afford the price tag), we suggest buying early if you don’t want to have to wait for it to hit the stores.

Net-A-Porter envisions other similar deals in the future. (This one actually being the second: Net-A-Porter had a similar collaboration setup for Roland Mouret’s comeback collection, RM — again, 24 hours after the collection was first shown.) It’s a great way to offer customers instant gratification, along with changing the way that people shop.

Net-A-Porter

Source: WWD.

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