Shopify’s streetwear product-drop app Frenzy is expanding into luxury fashion in time for New York Fashion Week: Men’s, with the aim of accelerating the already breakneck pace of see-now-buy-now.
Frenzy co-creator Tucker Scheibner said the app will team with brands such as Band of Outsiders, Necessity Sense and Daniel Patrick that are debuting collections during the annual trade show sponsored by Capsule that takes place following NYFW: Men’s.
To date, the app has primarily catered to streetwear brands like Antisocial Social Club, but Schrieber said teaming with Capsule provides direct access to fashion brands that may already operate on the Shopify platform, but that not have considered digital product drops on a third-party platform.
Schreiber said members of the Frenzy team will be onsite at the Capsule event to stream presentations on Facebook Live, while simultaneously providing links for where to purchase items on Frenzy. The app claims it will eliminate lag time on brand e-commerce sites by making the items immediately available and speeding checkout time with the help of Apple Pay.
“This is a way to expand what we were doing previously in sneakers and streetwear,” Schreiber said. “It allows us to work collaboratively with Capsule but also with emerging retailers and brands that exist within the Shopify ecosystem. It’s further pushing this technology into the retail and fashion space, where we’re continuing to democratize access to the products.”
According to Capsule director Christopher Corrado, this is the first year Capsule and the CFDA corroborated to strategically position the event in close proximity to the runway shows. (NYFW: Men’s takes place from July 10-13, while the Capsule event will be held July 17-19.) The aim is to maximize press and buyer participation across both events, particularly as designers become increasingly wary of hosting expensive, flashy shows. It also allows for wider participation for smaller, emerging brands who may not be able to secure a presenting slot during NYFW: Men’s.
“Market week is where [buyers and brands are] actually doing business and placing orders,” Corrado said. “It’s a more tangible return on investment. Fashion week is all about press, it’s all about noise, it’s all about painting a picture of your brand. It’s a branding exercise.”
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Schreiber added that while his team is still finalizing details among participating brands — which also include Arc’teryx Veilance, DDugoff and Haversack — most of the products will be available globally. The program will operate like its partnership with Antisocial Social Club, in which users receive a push notification when products are available and can make purchases.
“[Frenzy helps] engage that younger consumer who might have been able to finagle their way into a runway show, but what do they walk away with outside a couple photos on their iPhone? They aren’t really walking away with anything. Frenzy allows them to have tangible product,” Corrado said.
