Remarkable Marketing & PR Cases in the Fashion Industry
- Ben
- Mar 24, 2019
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 23, 2019
In the fashion industry where the lines between creativity, fantasy and expression are easily blurred, it isn’t always easy to predict the reactions of the public. Certain choices could therefore have various impacts. Most recently, the fashion industry has had a few rough months of controversial designs. Starting with huge backlash after the appearance of a sweater and keychain by Gucci and Prada, that reminded many people of blackface and most recently a Burberry hoody with a noose, which was completely ignorant to the social issue of suicide. In this week’s blog therefore, I thought it would be interesting to had a look at some remarkable fashion cases and their marketing and/or PR impact.
Marc Jacobs - #CastMeMarc
Using the social media platform Instagram to cast models for his Autumn/Winter 2014 campaign, the designer invited his fans, followers and customers to submit videos of themselves with the hashtag #CastMeMarc. Ultimately, over 70,000 people rose to the challenge, nine of whom ended up being selected and shot for the ad, as well as creating a huge brand awareness and valuable customer experience.
Dolce & Gabbana – D&G loves China
From one PR disaster to the next one… this brand is no stranger to creating controversies. D&G has a history of drama in all kinds of forms. From being charged for tax fraud, publicly voicing their opposition for gay adoptions and IVF (remarkable; both openly gay and calling the latter ‘’unnatural’’), dressing Melania Trump and boasting about it, to Gabbana making random nasty remarks about Selena Gomez’s appearance on Instagram.
Their latest controversy however, has impacted them the most. It all started after racist comments from Gabbana were released online. The comments were made in reaction to the backlash from an ad featuring a Chinese woman eating Italian food with chopsticks, which was deemed racist and belittling by Chinese consumers. The comments worsened the situation and led to boycott, which also saw the brand’s planned show canceled and products dropped from all of China’s major e-commerce platforms. Despite issuing a personal apology (without actions), Chinese consumers continue to shun the brand.
Maison Margiela - #MyMutiny
For their release of their latest scent Mutiny, the fashion house used the idea of breaking free from old-fashioned concepts of identity and presented an outlook of new self-expression. To support the core message of ‘representing diversity and abandoning preordained classifications’, the house selected six individuals, who embodied the Mutiny values, for their marketing and PR campaigns #MyMutiny. The campaign, including actress Willows Smith, singer Princess Nokia, alternative model Molly Blair, intersex model Hanne Gaby Odiele, actress Sasha Lane and transgender model Teddy Quinlivan, encouraged people to share their views of self-expression on social media.
Victoria’s Secret – The Fantasy
Victoria’s Secret made universal headlines in November 2018. In an interview with Vogue, Ed Razek, Chief Marketing Officer, said the company would not hire transgender or curvy models for the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, since they did not belong in ‘’that fantasy’’. The remarks drew enormous backlash with many outside and inside the fashion industry condemning Razek’s comments. By the time the company released an apology from Razek on Twitter, specifically addressing his comments about the trans community, but not the plus-size customer, it was too late, since various boycotts were already started. It remains to be seen how the impact will develop further, since the lingerie giant has already been facing declining sales for some years. An example of a great PR disaster.
Gucci & Prada - Blackface
As mentioned in the introduction, both luxury brands made blunders by releasing products that resembled blackface. However, after apologizing for the outrage and retracting the products, both brands made serious steps to turn their incidents into powerful learning moments by setting up an Advisory Council to guide their efforts on diversity, inclusion and culture. Both two good examples of PR-accidents that haven’t caused a big financial impact, probably because of serious efforts to improve the situation takes notes D&G.
Diesel – Hate Couture
The apparel brand released a limited-edition collection in a bid to tackle the cyber bullying they experienced daily with comments, such as ‘Diesel is dead’, on social media. To launch and promote the line, Diesel teamed up with some of the most polarising celebrities, such as Nicki Minaj, Bella Thorne and Tommy Dorfman, and sold clothing with various hateful phrases or words they received online. The campaign created a mixed buzz, due to the core message but also the casting of Nicki Minaj, who was deemed a bully herself by some people. PS: As part of the campaign the company donated a part of the profits to the Only The Brave Foundation in support of anti-bullying and cyberbullying programmes across the globe.
Louis Vuitton – Michael Jackson
Louis Vuitton has recently withdrawn all their Michael Jackson themed clothing from their fall 2019 men’s wear collection. The French fashion decided this after the release of the documentary ‘Leaving Neverland’, in which the pop star is accused of abuse. This case is included, since it is a good example of how a luxury brand correctly and swiftly reacts to an external problem to avoid any potential customer concerns and a PR disaster.
Calvin Klein - #MyCalvins
Based on the founding principles of the brand; the new generations and denim, Calvin Klein sure knows how to create a media buzz through their campaigns. From their iconic advertisement with Mark Wahlberg and Kate Moss to the sultry shoot of Justin Bieber, the brand knows how to use various celebrities to capture the attention of the current younger generation. Their latest and sexy #MyCalvins campaign is a perfect example of how current young, social media-savvy celebrities, such as model Kendall Jenner, rapper A$AP Rocky, singer Shawn Mendes and actor Noah Centineo, are used to appeal to the next generation of consumers and to create an enormous amount of PR, brand awareness and engagement.
Burberry – Noose hoodie
Burberry recently let a model with a ‘noose’ hoodie walk down the runway during their fall 2019 collection. After the brand had been accused of evoking images of lynching and suicide by various parties, the CEO and creative director apologized for their mistakes. Both persons afterwards pledged to give its employees mandatory training and increased its support for the charity Samaritans.
Tommy Hilfiger - Tommy X Gigi
In 2015, Tommy Hilfiger smartly teamed up with then upcoming Insta-model Gigi Hadid for a new clothing line. The capsule collection ultimately proved to be a great success, due to the great reach of Gigi’s Instagram, which had around 13 million Instagram followers, and the smart action to debut their first-ever see now, buy now show. The results showed that the website traffic increased with 900 percent in the 48 hours following the runway show and also had a lot of social media engagement. Ultimately, the collection was a sell out and three new collections were made afterwards. A great marketing and PR example of utilising the perfect situation and spokesperson.
So that was my list of remarkable fashion cases. Do you know any other great or bad examples of fashion marketing and PR cases? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time!
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