Michael Kors is jumping on the street style trend with a new, highly editorial-style campaign.
The campaign, titled The Walk, features shots of influencers with the brand’s latest line of handbags, taken by fashion photographer Tommy Ton. The campaign style, which resembles an editorial spread, is losing favor with some brands, though. Thomas Rankin, CEO of Dash Hudson, said while there is value in such efforts, consumers prefer street photos that aren’t staged. He noted brands like Glossier, Brandy Melville and Patagonia that have excelled in this space, as well as Marc Jacobs which has moved away from highly editorialized campaigns.
“Behavioral data shows that more organic photography, be it used on social or in traditional advertising campaigns, performs much better on average,” Rankin said. “The best brands on Instagram prove this by focusing on using organic imagery.”
The Michael Kors effort includes a new digital platform that features a photo spread and influencer stories stories from CEO of Saint Records Solange Knowles, models Soo Joo Park and Nina Agdal and Princess Olympia of Greece. The new site also allows users to shop the looks and share their own photos using the hashtag #SidewalkSpotted.
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The Michael Kors campaign also competes with the revival of ’90s styles among fashion brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Adidas, who helped drive the original street style movement. Chris Gilbert, senior social media strategist at the digital agency Kettle, told Glossy in August that “these brands get to own the fact that they were the ones originally to play in the space.”
Michael Kors, however, is not one of these brands. In trying to build its own notion of street style, it challenges the movement popularized by fashion photographers like the late Bill Cunningham and style blogs dedicated to documenting looks on the street.
“Fashion is a celebration of individual style, and I’ve always thought of New York City as the ultimate runway,” Kors said in a press release. The designer will take a full multimedia approach to the campaign, beginning with the new platform, and leading into an experiential media partnership this September and a pop-up shop in New York City in October.
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