My journey in Digital began in 2010, at a time when many luxury fashion brands were just beginning to toy with the idea of venturing into this world. Only a few of the most iconic fashion houses had started to invest in dedicated Digital teams, with brands like Céline, Prada, and Bottega Veneta not launching their e-commerce platforms until the mid-to-late 2010s.
Building Vivienne Westwood’s Digital Presence
In 2014, I was hired by Vivienne Westwood to build out their Digital team. One of my initial projects at Westwood was to implement their first live-streamed show at London Fashion Week, something that the likes of Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Dior wouldn’t embrace until years later. Live streaming meant a significant shift away from fashion shows being private and exclusive, reserved only for a select group of individuals within the industry, and towards events open to the masses and accessible to a global online audience. For me, this was symbolic of how Digital was rapidly redefining key aspects of luxury within the modern world. I could feel that this was a pivotal time within the luxury fashion industry – full of excitement and possibility, but also apprehension, uncertainty and resistance.
To understand why, it is important to go back to the pre-digital world of luxury. This was a time when luxury was centred around exclusivity and an intimate, highly personalised shopping experience. Access to the world’s most prestigious brands was reserved only for the mega-wealthy, who would often visit boutiques by appointment where they were personally attended to. This allowed brands to maintain a firm grasp on who accessed their collections and in turn created a sense of mystique, allure and desirability – factors that have always been integral to the power of luxury. When you consider what these principles embody in relation to Digital – accessibility, immediacy, transparency – it’s easy to understand why these two worlds can be seen as somewhat paradoxical.
Having joined Westwood, it quickly became clear to me that the key to a brand’s success in Digital was forging an emotional and meaningful connection through storytelling — something which was synonymous with Vivienne herself and had naturally become part of her brand’s DNA. For me, the innovative ways in which high-impact, immersive, and emotive Digital content can be used to enhance a brand’s story has been one the most powerful and exciting developments within luxury.
Chanel’s Success in Digital Storytelling
One of my favourite early examples of exceptional Digital content is from Chanel, who in 2013 created a series of short animated videos depicting the life story of the founder, Coco Chanel. It’s very honest and at times a dark narrative as it follows Chanel’s journey from an orphan to a successful haute couture designer, touching on provocative themes including love, loss, feminism and religion. Whilst the motivations behind the creation of this content were commercial, the execution was more emotive than we had seen previously from any brand and stayed true to its legacy and values.
During my three years at Vivienne Westwood, I observed the luxury fashion industry’s approach to Digital become increasingly fragmented; While a few brands became pioneers and fully embraced a ‘Digital-first’ strategy, most remained hesitant and increasingly left behind as the online revolution accelerated. I was witnessing the gap between traditional fashion houses and other fashion retailers widening and realised that I needed to temporarily step out of luxury fashion to surround myself with Digital experts. I spent the next five years learning from retailers who were leading in Digital innovation – first at Marks & Spencer and then at Selfridges.
Learning from Digital Leaders
I had two key learnings from my time at these retailers. Firstly, the power of data to provide customers with a seamless and personalised journey, from the first interaction with a brand, right through to post-purchase communications. And that this was only achievable with a clear and fully funded strategy to collect, cleanse and analyse the data. The second learning was the importance of delivery and returns experience – fast delivery, easy returns, whether in-store or from home – to create seamless, consistent and personalised experiences…the type of experiences that would be expected from traditional luxury brands. I found it surprising and ironic that so many reputable luxury brands weren’t (and still aren’t) prioritising these areas, leaving larger retailers with the more superior customer experience.
Returning to Luxury
In 2021, I moved to Victoria Beckham as their Head Of Digital Marketing, before being promoted the following year to run the entire Digital department. Luxury has always been my passion and I was elated to be back at a fashion house and excited to apply my learnings from my two previous roles. The fact that this role existed where I was responsible for the end-to-end Digital customer experience (everything from Digital Marketing and e-commerce to Buying, Trading and Client Services – although not organic social) was evidence in itself how far things had progressed. However, for a brand to be truly ‘Digital-first’, Digital needs to be fully integrated into all departments of the business. While there is still a Digital knowledge gap within the luxury world there has been increased willingness from departments within brands to integrate. In most retailers, there is a degree of tension between brands and some of the commercial elements of Digital, and this is especially prominent in luxury. Digital teams are often challenged with sales-focused KPIs and have tactics at their disposal that can significantly increase revenue but if used incorrectly, can destroy a brand. Therefore, I would argue that this tension between Brand and Digital can be healthy and even necessary in order for a luxury brand to maintain the balance between commercial success and maintaining its identity.
A decade after I started my first job at a fashion house, the Digital landscape for luxury fashion is unrecognizable. What was once an afterthought has become a driving force behind many luxury brands’ success. Yet it still feels as if Digital is under-prioritised, under-resourced and often misunderstood by some senior stakeholders. In the coming years, as my peers—who, like me, were there when luxury fashion first began adopting Digital—move into Director and C-suite roles, it will be interesting to see how their influence shapes the industry.
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