High fashion has been going high-tech for some time now, and two major players enter the virtual ring today: Gilt Groupe, with its video series highlighting industry leaders debuts today at noon, while Saks' Point of View blog launched earlier today.
Hosted by SCOOP founder and HSN host Stefani Greenfield, Unracked with Gilt Groupe will "reveal industry secrets," from Molly Sims' advice on how to look skinny in a picture, to essential wardrobe items, according to Gossip Girl's costume guu Eric Daman. The series preview also shows sit-downs with Diane von Furstenberg and Rachel Roy. The series consists of five-minute video clips distributed to members by email, in typical Gilt fashion, with extended versions available to view on Gilt.com/Unracked.
And while Gilt was born and raised entirely as an online portal, Saks represents a more traditional retailer with an editorial presence on the web. Saks POV blends that classic stature with the requisite offbeat content: inaugural posts includes style director Colleen Sherin's favorite pizza spot—Roberta's in Bushwick—as well as an outfit to don for a dinner date there: Saks-stocked Vince suede leather jacket and Rag & Bone Lace-up Boots. Images of iconic NYC landmarks like the Rockefeller Center skating rink and Radio City Music Hall, both visible from the Saks flagship store, are also featured.
That both a department store stalwart and flash-sale wunderkind have hopped onto the editorial bandwagon to complement their commerce operations marks distinct movement in the popular direction of retail. As the media landscape changes, not only from print to web and static to dynamic, but from buying and selling products to consuming and creating all-encompassing lifestyle brands, the overlap continues blending from black and white to increasingly gray—which is a very in color right now, we must say.
