On Instagram, Fashion Set Snubs Coronavirus, Talks Chanel – WWD

PARIS – The Instagram fashion bubble, it seems, is a coronavirus-free area. Better to talk about Chanel on the social media platform, a study by Heuritech published on Monday suggested.

The French tech firm examined hashtags and used visual technology to calculate trends and brand mentions on the social media platform during fashion month from February 7 to March 3.

Chanel dominated brands for Instagram mentions during the period, but COVID-19, even if it was a key subject in the news, was largely avoided on the social media platform, according to the firm's findings.

"Unexpectedly, coronavirus was fairly absent from all articles during fashion week – we found that out of all articles related to fashion week, only 2% spoke of coronavirus," said Célia Poncelin, Marketing Director at Heuritech. The few mentions were mainly related to the report by Chanel and Prada on their May shows.

"There has been a real effort on the part of the fashion industry to stay focused on fashion" when posting on Instagram, she added.

Paris Fashion Week is at the top of the list this season, with 38% of the mentions, followed by Milan and New York, London behind the others with a proportion of 15%. The proportion of mentions in New York has decreased compared to the previous season.

The big brands after Chanel were Dior, Prada, Gucci and Saint Laurent, in that order.

As for designers, JW Anderson dominated the ranking of the most cited designers, followed by Virgil Abloh, Miuccia Prada and Anthony Vaccarello. The results suggest that collaboration strategies are useful for generating buzz, with JW Anderson teaming up with Moncler while the Abloh Off-White label is working with Nike. As for Prada, the announcement of its intention to work with Raf Simons added to the visibility of the brand, according to analysts at Heuritech.

Dior caused a sensation with a group that carried feminist messages in huge neon signs, the day after Harvey Weinstein's conviction for rape and criminal sexual assault, and 44% of the articles on the Dior program mentioned feminism, according to the data.

The reach of Bottega Veneta's popular Lido clutch bags and sandals has grown beyond products, influencing other brands and consumer styles outside of the high-end luxury realm, analysts at Heuritech added.

“They really stood out in terms of an emblematic product; it wasn't just the "It" bag from the latest fashion week, it was really embraced by consumers and we really see it everywhere, "said Marion Tessier, product marketing manager at Heuritech, about by Bottega Veneta.

"The impact is very strong and goes beyond the circle of leather goods and high-end shoes," added Julie Pont, creative director and trend analyst at the technology company. The pair noted clues of influence in the form of touches of woven leather on shoes and handbags from other brands, adding that the style matches recent fashion interest. for the minimalist 90s.

In terms of sustainability, Paris leads the rankings, thanks in large part to Stella McCartney, who showed vegan leather and promoted animal rights with people in animal costumes, analysts said. But Balenciaga collected the highest proportion of publications mentioning the brand that were linked to sustainability, 42%, with its set of shipwrecked bleachers on the theme of climate change. According to Heuritech, the vintage recycled pieces from Maison Margiela and the timeless approach of Hermès were also applauded on Instagram.

Data and analytics company ListenFirst noted that COVID-19 likely played a role in a 65% drop in Paris Fashion Week-related Twitter conversations this year compared to last year. .

Launchmetrics, meanwhile, which also focuses on data research for the fashion industry, has seen an increase in media impact value, a specific measure developed by the company, linked to news about COVID-19 during Paris Fashion Week.