To sell expensive fashion these days, shops have to offer more than clothes. Consumers want "an experience", an audience at a Business of Fashion discussion at the Sydney Opera House heard on Wednesday night.

As new technologies sweep through the fashion industry, bricks and mortar stores are left to engineer their own attractions and customers are increasingly attracted to distinctive shopping experiences.
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"You can't just make an impression with a device alone," said Kim Bui Kollar, director of special projects for Pedder Group, a subsidiary of the Lane Crawford Joyce Group. "We have been toying with the idea of a store not just selling things, but engaging with the public."

The industry must slow down to establish brand loyalty and offer a distinctive experience in-store, decided two panels that included designers Karen Walker, Nicky and Simone Zimmermann, and Justin O'Shea, creative director of Brioni in Rome. The panels were chaired by the founder of the Business of Fashion website, Imran Amed, and fashion editor Tim Banks and supported by QIC Global Real Estate.

Physical and digital encounters

"In the past, retailers had it easy. They could live off product alone," said Michael O'Keefe, chief executive officer at Aesop, who believes physical and digital encounters can co-exist as an "interwoven mesh", rather than competing retail sources.

"There is now a pressure on retailers to offer a more service-driven experience. What are you going to add to the community where your store is? What is the point of being there?"

Pedder Group's Ms Kollar pointed to "emotion, creativity, authenticity and discovery" as drivers of retail success.

Using Lane Crawford's Canton Road shop in Hong Kong as an example, Ms Kollar outlined "store experience" strategies where customers were able to involve themselves in the space.

Taiwanese-American artist James Jean spent three days painting a live art installation on the glass walls of the store. On another occasion, a partnership with Friends of the Earth saw hundreds of children and their parents plant trees and celebrate environmentalism in the store.

"People have a general curiosity about how things are made and we have an opportunity to involve them in art," said Ms Kollar. "We also have the privilege of going to fashion shows and we have to bring the magic to the stores so the customers can experience it too."

Whether or not fashion shows will stay relevant was a point of contention among the panelists. The global reach of the internet has seen the number of buyers dwindle at shows, instead replaced by the Instagram glitterati, who document shows so rapidly that images of the new garments are seen by millions before the models have even left the catwalk.

"There is something slightly broken about fashion shows," conceded eye-wear designer Karen Walker. "I remember being asked about what I was thinking for winter while I was taking questions at the end of my summer show."

That said, the spectacle and the excitement built by fashion shows is unlikely to be replaced by anything any time soon, given it is integral to the designer's process and also provides content opportunities for the ever-hungry social media diet.

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