There’s a new digital model emerging in New York and I think it’s something we could learn from here in the UK. Our NY office recently designed and built a website for luxury fashion designer Catherine Malandrino. Nothing unusual about that I hear you say, but more than that, we’re taking hold of the stock, storing it, dispatching it directly to the consumer and answering customer service queries. We’re effectively running an online shop on behalf of the designer.

Now why would a designer hand over the reigns to a digital agency in this way? Well there’s a number of reasons, firstly, a lot of them don’t ‘get’ digital, secondly they don’t have the resources or the manpower, and thirdly, they don’t have the budget. Yes we know that they are ‘luxury’ brands, but unless it’s Louis Vuitton or Gucci these designers, of which there are many, haven’t got millions of pounds in their remit to do online stuff. This sort of solution is perfect for them, because it allows them to sell online, not worry about it, make the money, and someone is looking after it all for them. 

At the moment it seems to work in New York as opposed to the US generally because of its size and the amount of designers that are based there, but I think this is going to get bigger and bigger and could work well in London. There is no cash anywhere at the moment and certainly with these kinds of brands this route makes perfect sense. The future? I think so.