Lakme Fashion Week to launch Virtual Showroom

The Virtual Showroom will also serve more importantly, as a B2B platform for designers to showcase their future collections and directly get orders from buyers of multi-designer stores across the world. Lakme Fashion Week will be supporting designer sales without charging designers any fee to be a part of the platform.

“Under the (current) circumstances, designers will need new ways to reach their buyers and consumers. The Virtual Showroom is an initiative which can fulfil this need by leveraging technology. The Virtual Showroom offers many tools to make transacting more transparent and convenient,” said Ashwath Swaminathan, head of Innovations at Lakme.

“With the Virtual Showroom, there’s hope for the fashion world to continue as best as it can and adapt in new ways that may provide better solutions. We hope that innovations such as these in the changing times will provide the strength and support our industry is in the need of. We are also looking at partnering with a major e-commerce player to further strengthen the consumer connect part of the initiative,” said Jaspreet Chandok, head of Lifestyle Businesses, IMG Reliance, which jointly organises Lakme Fashion Week.

From a business perspective, the Virtual Showroom aims to simplify buyer interactions, order management and brand discovery digitally and at one place. Designers can upload their product catalogue and costing that will be easy to navigate. Buyers will get pre-approved access to browse through designer collections and have the option of placing orders directly with the designers. Outstation buyers can also book private viewing appointments with the designers during Lakme Fashion Week.

"With the understanding that this will be a transition from a physical and standard mode of operations for the business of fashion in India, all efforts will be made such that the experience of buying will not be comprised," the organisers said in a press release.

The Virtual Showroom will go hand in hand with the on ground Lakme Fashion Week event currently planned for the 3^rd quarter of 2020.

Starting with the Virtual Showroom, Lakme Fashion Week will roll out several digital fashion innovations in the next few months.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)