It is very unlikely that Al Gore was thinking of high fashion when he invented the Internet, and I doubt very few couture houses had the Internet as part of their original business strategies, but the two have come together against all odds. In recent weeks, two major luxury fashion brands, Burberry and Gucci, have taken the plunge and launched social networks built around their brands and products.
Burberry’s Art of the Trench: A few weeks ago, the iconic British label Burberry launched the social media initiative Art of the Trench (at artofthetrench.com), which is a digital platform with social networking functionality. The site will be an ongoing project between Burberry and some of the world’s leading image-makers (including its customers, who are invited to submit their own trench coat portraits to feature on the site), building an organic testament to its arguably most recognizable product, the trench coat. Visitors to the site will be able to favorite and comment on the portraits and share the photographs over their own existing social networks including Facebook and Twitter.
Gucci and Christie’s: Beginning early next year, Gucci and the auction house Christie’s will launch “Gucci Collector: Presented by Christie’s.” This project is the very first Gucci-certified online destination for authenticating and appraising vintage Gucci products. A dedicated section on Christies’ website (at christies.com) will allow owners to upload photos of their vintage items and submit an appraisal request. A team of Christie’s experts as well as Gucci’s own in-house archivists will provide an assessment of the item, and Christie’s will appraise the value of each submission. Owners will also have the opportunity to sell their items to each other, Gucci, or in a future Christie’s auction if desired.
Streaming Fashion Shows: Fashion Shows are generally invite-only events, where a rigid caste system of hierarchy and power is determined by where you sit. The Internet has opened up these exclusive shows to the general public, democratizing fashion at the same time. While images taken by the press flood the Internet just hours after the shows, designers are beginning to one-up the media by directly streaming live video of their fashion shows. A few seasons ago, Hussein Chalayan was perhaps the only designer to shoot video of his collection, but this year everyone from Alexander McQueen to Michael Kors to Marc Jacobs streamed their shows live via the Internet.
Google Themes: Just a fun little addition. If you have a Google account, you can personalize your homepage with themes created by various designers. The currently available ones were created by a diverse group of artists ranging from Anna Sui to Michael Kors to Vera Wang.

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