Vogue Global Conversations: Fostering Community Despite Social Distancing

By: Amy Rosner 

In a world where human contact is not only discouraged, but forbidden, we seek out and rely on digital communities to feel connected to forces larger than ourselves. Courtesy of Vogue, we were able to participate in important, culturally-relevant conversations that transcend local, regional, national, and global borders. The discussion topics are both diverse and vast, ranging from the Future of Fashion Shows to the Future of Creativity and Sustainability. We were fortunate enough to join two brilliant, engaging, and surprisingly, uplifting dialogues surrounding the Future of E-Commerce and the Future of Brick and Mortar.  These discussions provide an interesting juxtaposition between the physical and the digital, which reveal both the differences and similarities between these divergent modes of retail. The notion of the “future” is a common thread amongst all four day long webinars, as the future of the industry, and our society at large, remains hanging in the balance.  

For those who missed it, we selected quotes from each panel that encapsulate the ethos of each discussion. 

Panel 1: The Future of E-Commerce

Angelica Cheung, Editor in Chief of Vogue China, moderates this conversation with Virgil Abloh, Creator of Off-White and Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton menswear, Remo Ruffini, CEO of moncler, and Stephanie Phair, Chief customer officer at Farfetch. These industry leaders discuss the impact of the global pandemic on consumer buying patterns. Now that we are all confined to our respective homes, E-commerce plays a more vital role than ever. 

EIC: Will E-commerce flourish from this, or is it in trouble? How do we rejuvenate the customer's appetite going forward? We are an industry based on desire, but right now is a time of mere necessity…

SP: We need to focus on the humanitarian crisis first, and then the economic crisis second...It’s very hard to predict the future but I believe crises are catalysts for the future, not only in the quantity of demand but the shape of demand: focus on sustainability, push towards E-commerce, consumer-led shopping, making better consumer choices etc. This shift will force the industry to rethink the patterns and behaviors of the fashion industry that we know needs to change...we have a responsibility to change the systematic flaws in the industry and maybe there will be a silver lining that comes out of this.

VA: It’s time to rethink and reanalyze what fashion means today. We are in the middle of a health crisis but also in a global quarantine where we are rethinking about what really inspires us. Need to realign our values from pure desirability to helping uphold sustainability and diversity and now we become an industry that doesn’t just sell designs, but we are a service industry that does good….humanity first and commercial objectives and branding second. We can inspire a new generation of the industry. 

EIC: Are you changing your social media approach to create a greater emotional connection and showcase what you brand really means?

RR: Yes, this is the time to change the mood and the tone of our brand. It’s not the time to show products, but it’s the time to be warm and comforting. The approach is completely different than 3 or 6 months ago. We need to have a more customized and tailored experience to make a stronger relationship between customers and the industry...we want to stay human with our products and our customers. 

VA: Authenticity and dialogue are the two most important things in social media right now. Content creation will have to adapt to social platforms to increase and open up the dialogue...social media is a two way street which allows the community to respond instead of showing a projected idea of what a fashion image is, we are opening up a more fluid conversation that is mutual and no longer a monolithic idea of what fashion is. 

EIC: Brands are now going straight to the consumer (E-commerce live streaming in China, using Tik Tok to reach a larger, mass audience). Do these very in your face, less polished approaches work for more sleek, high-end luxury brands?

SP: Fashion is what's out there but also how different people interpret fashion… we are highlighting individuals and family run businesses who interpret fashion in unique, unprecedented ways….this has always been a core value of Farfetch but it's more important now than ever. It’s all about human connection and the fashion industry can adapt to it because we’re an industry of storytellers. Different technologies allow these human connections to happen. 

VA: How can these stories get richer? How can models like QVC advance? 7,059 participants in this Zoom chat right now beyond the four speakers. We need to listen to the consumers on this Zoom chat right now because the answers are in the participants in this chat. People between the ages of 18-23 have the answers and really understand direct to consumer because they are the consumers...we’re going to give young people a seat at the table to bring in a new voice. Young people understand this new logic, this new language, such as Tik Tok, Uber, Uber Eats, Snapchat, etc and they are best fit to aid the social strategy right now. 

EIC: What is the future of globalization? Do you feel there is a need to emphasize a more local approach as we move forward, even though our business is so global?

RR: Customer relations is the most important thing and we need to redesign this. We need to redesign our mood and mentality and be more domestic even though we have a global vision...We need to think about new ways to communicate with the customers using different approaches, domestic attitudes, different technologies, channels, etc.

EIC: How can we sell clothes more effectively online, since accessories are taking up so much space?

SP: This is where technology comes in with virtual fashion, augmented retail, and size and fit technology to give that experience so you can actually feel the clothing online. I think there is going to be more merger between on and offline...people potentially going to their boutique in real-time to touch and feel the products, and then go to technology to actually complete the transaction. The conversation you have in the store becomes so important. The store becomes a showroom and a space for storytelling...instead of trying to control how and where people shop (online or in store), we need to naturally let it happen and allow the technology to guide these new patterns and behaviors. 

EIC: Where do you see the future of fashion?

VA: Instead of thinking of designers as individuals trying to compete with each other, and essentially ignoring each other to compete for the attention of others, we need to act as a coalition so we function as a humanitarian industry rather than a vain industry. Designers need to be in conversation with each other like we are right now in this Zoom chat...face masks are becoming the next accessory and maybe be the new handbag. We can borrow these innovations from technology and the medical field. We as an industry can collectively produce accessories that are also humanitarian. This changes our industry from pure vanity to humanity. This makes us stronger. We need to shift from a less divided approach that is purely focused on economic gain. 

EIC: Do entrepreneurs have a place in the fashion world, or will it continue to be governed by large companies?

RR: It’s very important for new brands to emerge right now which brings new energy to the market and already established brands. Big brands are looking for new designers every season and they look towards those start-up brands that will energize us and rejuvenate us...bigger brands like Moncler get new ideas from looking around the world, and these entrepreneurs are representing this worldly voice. 

SP: Bigger brands have a responsibility to create an ecosystem that allows smaller brands to contribute and enrich our community. 

EIC: What advice should you give new brands starting in regards to E-commerce strategy?

VA: Start-up brands should be doing what the big brands can’t do anymore. Go against what you think the measure of success is...true success is thinking in new and fresh ways to try to relate to your target demographic. These are the things that will attract your attention from your peers, this will change the whole ecosystem. Do something that hasn’t been done. 

Panel 2: The Future of Brick and Mortar 

Emanuele Farneti, Editor in Chief of Vogue Italia, moderates this conversation with Vittorio Radice, Vice-Chairman of Italian department store La Rinascente, Pete Nordstrom, Vice President of Nordstrom, Pierre-Yves Roussel, CEO of Tory Burch. These industry trailblazers discuss the future of in-person shopping, despite social distancing protocols. The role of the store will drastically transform over the next year, and these individuals are at the forefront. 

EIC: Vittorio, can you please describe the physical landscape of retailing in Italy in these weeks?

VR: To be honest there isn’t a lot of retail today, the only noise you hear is the ambulance. What is important for me to point out is every individual entity is in a different stage of development and every brand is facing its own unique challenges…the question is what’s the track ahead? Will it be smooth or bumpy? Will it be full of curves, uphill or downhill? 

EIC: How can a store be alive when it’s down?

PN: The online and the physical are working together and leveraging their assets to seamlessly work together...so how we connect with customers is finding a way to be relevant which has always been core to how we operate. We have a customer-led strategy, we don’t sell things people need, we sell things people want, and we need to be aligned with their sensibilities and what’s going on with their lives

EIC: What are you planning to do to keep customers and clients safe when things reopen?

VR: The function of department stores is a place you can go when it’s raining outside or when you have time between meetings and you can go there and have a coffee. That function of security and always having a place to be will be even more important today and in the future when we reopen...all of this is a new language which we have to implement in order to manage this...everybody is very enthusiastic about redesigning our world for the future. 

PN: We are going to evolve into what everybody knows is a new normal. We are going to have to be flexible because it's impossible to project what that new normal will be like. We are going to take a learning and humble approach by responding to the customers. We are going to evolve in a way that’s relevant to the customers and these times. 

EIC: Can you describe the “relevant social dimensions of shopping” in store right now?

PR:The store offers something you cannot have online. 80 percent of Gen Z generation would rather go to the store than online because they want to disconnect from social media...retail is becoming more and more a social dimension with social interactions...I think it’s going to be really about the relationship with the customer rather than just going to the place purely to shop and buy. Our stores have a coffee table and I’m always struck when I see people there talking, the cash register is nowhere in sight, and it feels very natural….this will only accelerate in the future. 

EIC: Are retailers the one to blame right now?

PN: There’s this great opportunity for us to get a reset and to put the customer first...if you started your company today you would probably do it differently than you did back then, and now we have that opportunity. All brands are connected because we have a mutual problem to solve. I’ve been encouraged by that because retailers want to be a part of the solution...we want to lead in what’s in the best interest of the customer in a more common sense way. 

VR: I think the crisis is a catalyst for a problem that’s been here for a very long time. The industry was designed this way when the industry was much smaller and now it’s much larger and we have different needs…. It’s time to give dignity to the product and make each individual product a piece you personally want to own.

EIC: What is your take on the right balance between the digital and physical?

PR: I believe in brick and mortar and E-commerce and everything in between...not looking at it by channel but by a consumer-centric perspective is very advantageous to us. You need to define what the right network is for you, what works for some brands may not work for larger department stores…

PN: If you can get customers to engage with you in multiple channels, then you get more value for the customer..these are not binary choices where somebody only does this or only does that, these lines have become so blurred...the combination of physical and digital assets and how they work together is key to our success. 

EIC: There’s a huge concern that the system won’t be able to support young, unknown talents. What do you think the young designers can expect in such a challenging time? 

PN:The way our brand works is we are a curator of things..we’re not just an aggregator of everything. The best balance for customers is to show them what they expect or want, but then also the discovery part of it with new designers and products that surprise them...the more flexibility we have, the more opportunity we have to do things that are interesting. It’s  important to us that we don’t reduce what we do to just transactional business, but we highlight this element of discovery with new designers and ideas. 

VR: The way you make your store an icon is by having the biggest most established brands next to young, new designers...the designer brand now becomes more accessible and fresh and young because it’s next to the fresh and young. We need to tailor-make each store to its location which reflects it’s lifestyle, culture and way of living...the young designers are a huge ingredient. 

EIC: What in the long-term is going to change because of consumer behavior? Do you expect in the year or so people’s priorities will shift from yesterday?

PN: The question is how can brick and mortar adapt to the future? Is this going to be the language of the future? This is going to be a long-term exercise. It’s not going to happen overnight. What function stores will have in the future? This is something that worries me...there is a big question mark about what the larger cultural shifts are going to be.

PR: I agree with this agility, and I would add relevance. In a way, what we sell nobody really needs, but we are in a business of creating desire and emotion and we always should come back to that...We need to be even better then we were before. Any crisis is only making the bar higher, and those brands who make it will only be stronger by adjusting and staying true to who they are. These are going to be the brands that not only survive, but win.

We hope you found these panels as inspiring as we did! The world may be paused, but these webinars keep the wheels turning and the dialogue going. Our industry will need to revamp and uproot it’s foundations in order to survive this, but we have the resilience to do so. As Stephanie Phair pointed out, the system has been flawed for decades now, and COVID-19 may just as well be it’s silent savior.