Italian designers see 324pc social action increase during fashion week

Italian fashion house Gucci’s ongoing revitalization efforts extended to social media during Milan Fashion Week, with the brand capturing more than 2 million total social actions.

During Milan Fashion Week Sept. 23-29, Italian designers including Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Versace presented collections for the upcoming spring/summer 2016 season with each crafting in-depth social components for fans to follow. Social media has transformed what was once exclusive events into public displays of brand happenings, with international fashion weeks leading the way to include global consumers through innovative social campaigns.

A fashionable social engagement
According to Shareablee’s “Milan Fashion Week SS2016 Designers Scorecard,” brands saw a 324 percent growth increase in total social actions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, compared to the presentations for Milan Fashion Week for spring/summer 2015.

While Gucci topped the list with more than 2 million social impressions, Dolce & Gabbana was a close second with 1.9 million social actions. These brands were followed by Versace with 1.1 million total social actions.

Of the 10 brands surveyed, Dolce & Gabbana scored the top posts on Instagram with backstage photos and recent projects (see story) while Versace was the highest ranked in terms of Twitter usage. While Gucci was active across all three primary social media platforms, the Italian brand ranked highest in Facebook engagement with posts that included videos, collection photos and quotes from its recently-hired creative director Alessandro Michele.

Dolce & Gabbana model selfie Instagram post during Milan Fashion Week

Although the three social networks are useful in their own right, Instagram was the platform of choice across brands participating in Milan Fashion Week, with 96 percent of total engagement taking place on the photo-sharing mobile application.

The use of social media also boosted engagement during London Fashion Week for spring/summer 2016, held Sept. 18-22, but not as strongly as it did in Milan.

In general, London Fashion Week designers have seen an increase of 186 percent in engagement during the spring/summer 2016 season, compared to fall/winter 2015.

Topshop outperformed high fashion labels online, capturing 1.4 million total engagements across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, including likes, comments, shares, retweets and favorites. Burberry was a close second with 1.3 million engagements, with the top two responsible for 79 percent of total interactions from London Fashion Week designers (see story).