Social media has become an important tool for the fashion industry to connect with customers and promote brands. Major fashion brands like Marc Jacobs and Victoria's Secret have seen increases in online traffic, sales, and customer engagement by actively using social media platforms. The industry has embraced strategies like developing mobile apps, encouraging user-generated content, and collaborating with influential fashion bloggers to expand their online and social media presence. During New York Fashion Week, over half of discussions about the events occurred on social media sites like Twitter, with bloggers providing real-time coverage and commentary.

1. What is Social Media The use of electronic tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with others…

2. Social Media v/s Traditional Media

4. 85% say a company should use it to interact with them

5. Almost 60% of Americans interact with a brand on a social media site

6. 56% feel a stronger connection to brands when use social media

7. It’s About Relationships, Not Pitches

8. Monitor your brand and reputation online

9. Social Media Exposure: Better Than Traditional Ads and Cheaper

10. Monitor others brands/reputations

11. Interact with your consumers

12. Track ROI better

13. Men/Women 18-34 yrs

15. Journalists, fashion incubators, retail gurus and people who were just plain interested in the industry are weighing in on a topic via social media that has notoriously shut its doors to anyone deemed an outsider.

16. In the past six months, the amount of fashion insiders embracing social media has skyrocketed. The Fashion Industry has adopted social media as a marketing platform to reach their customers online & reignite brand passion and customer loyalty.

17. By letting the public behind the fashion influencer curtain, stalwarts and luminaries have created and connected to an entirely new audience, and capitalized on the 400 million Facebook users and more than 22 million Twitter users.

18. Von Furstenberg is one of the most beloved and popular designers on Twitter having over 22,000 followers. The viral marketing capabilities of re-tweeting by this targeted group is something an advertising budget cannot buy. Within the last year of having a major online and social media presence, von Furstenberg’s online traffic has increased by 13% and sales “have been great” according to a source in the corporate offices of DvF.

20. For Fashion Week 2010, the brand decided to go beyond just digitally streaming their runway shows. It took the online interactions offline through Foursquare.

21. Marc Jacobs and Foursquare created the “Fashion Victim” badge, which allowed Fashion Week attendees (and others) to “check-in” at any Marc by Marc Jacobs stores in New York and around the country to unlock the badge. Four people who unlocked the badge in New York were randomly chosen to receive tickets to the Marc Jacobs show. The partnership provided both Marc Jacobs and Foursquare with word of mouth marketing.

22. Foursquare and other location-based services like Loopt and Gowalla offer retailers the opportunity to increase in-store visits and foot traffic. If executed well, these location-enhanced shopping experiences can translate into improved customer loyalty, referrals, and sales, both online and offline.

25. niche communities such as Weardrobe (recently purchased by Like.com), Modepass, and Lookbook.Nu,have yielded impressive ROI, as their audiences are more likely to become loyal customersNiche Communities

27. Chanel shows its runway collections via iPhone app, and the Gilt Groupe app allows users to shop sample sales and receive alerts as to when sales are starting.

28. StyleCaster’s app lets users access style tips, individually customize news feeds and fashion trends, and houses a large online retail catalog of brand-name clothing.

29. JustLuxe is a digital global concierge company whose extremely interactive app comes with over 1,000 member benefits. Utilizing GPS, the app will recommend participating restaurants and hotels in the user’s area. It’s the first style-oriented app that leverages location-based mobile marketingJustLuxe StyleCaster

31. More brands are realizing the collective power of their customers’ networks by encouraging fan contributions.

32. One of the most notable and consistent campaigns built around user-generated content and social engagement has been from the brand Charlotte Russe. The brand’s weekly trivia contest on Twitter drives followers to the web site or YouTube channel with the hope of snagging some excellent prizes (the brand recently gave away a jacket worn on Gossip Girl).

33. Charlotte Russe is running “Be The Next Charlotte Russe Design Star” a t-shirt design contest where the winner will have his or her shirt produced and sold online. A fashion-filled trip to NYC is also included

35. Fashion Week Trends In Real-Time:45% of NYFW participants used Twitter to discuss events. From models to designers, PR gurus to celebrities, people tweeted and twitpic’d their experiences.

36. Fashion Week Is Written In-Real Time : 53% of the coverage came from online articles and blog posts occurring between 2/13/2010 to 2/20/2010. As magazines posted photos and commentary of shows, bloggers were hot on the heels, reblogging, writing and linking to photos and trend information as they were released.

37. Established news outlets led real-time coverage: Bloggers used the CUT blog, New York magazine and Coutorture as their main fashion week news sources. NY Mag and Coutorture are established, mainstream fashion resources.