Tommy Hilfiger wins Best In-Store Initiative at World Retail Congress

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Apr 10, 2017

Tommy Hilfiger has won the prize for the Best In-Store Initiative at World Retail Congress in Dubai. The award was granted in recognition of Hilfiger’s path-breaking Fall 2016 TommyNow runway show and global media platform. An event which has marked, to date at least, the apogee of the See Now Buy Now movement in fashion retailing.
 

 That catwalk show, with uber-model Gigi Hadid starring in and partly designing the collection TommyxGigi, was staged on a Hudson River pier in September 2016. It marked the runway debut of Hadid’s capsule collaboration with Hilfiger, as the general public, It Girls and editorial stars like Anna Wintour mingled amid fairground rides, carnival games, and an eclectic mix of vendors.
 
“Our consumers are at the heart of everything we do. TommyNow builds on our 30-year legacy of democratizing fashion – it’s about inclusivity, fusing the runway with entertainment, celebrating pop culture,” said the American designer.

Each look in the show could be purchased through what the designer termed “an ecosystem” of immediately shoppable channels in over 70 countries. A live stream also allowed fans to immediately shop every look on Tommy.com, in addition to buying through Tommy Hilfiger’s global network of boutiques and flagship stores.
 
The event also marked the launch of tmy.grl, the innovative A.I. powered tmy.grl conversational commerce bot for Facebook Messenger. Pop-up stores featured the full collection on the pier, while interactive digital touch screens allowed kids to browse and shop. The entire runway show could also be acquired on Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest and Facebook.
 
Hilfiger subsequently exported the TommyNow concept to Venice Beach, Los Angeles, in February 2017, presenting the looks in a new TommyLand - where the cast was “flown in” on a private plane to a surrogate rock festival with live music by Fergie.