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Canali taps Mr Porter editor for styling session to build online presence

Italian menswear label Canali enlisted Mr Porter style director Dan May for a fashion feature that instructed men how to wear one of the brand?s jackets.

Part of Canali?s ?Style Notes? section of its newly redesigned Web site, the feature took the brand?s field jacket and styled it three different ways to show versatility. Having a menswear retailer known for its editorial eye get involved with its own content will help Canali boost its own online presence.

"The brand likely teamed up with Mr Porter to bring fashion to life and grow their social presence," said Jenna Silverman, planner at Huge, New York.

"Customers see high-fashion brands almost exclusively on the runway or being worn by models," she said. "When someone like Mr Porter takes the items and shows you how to wear them in multiple ways, it makes it easier for the consumer to contextualize how this piece of clothing is functional in his life.

"It also allows Canali as a brand to leverage Mr Porter?s social influence and following and strengthen its own brand awareness."

Ms. Silverman is not affiliated with Canali, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.

Canali did not respond by press deadline.

London calling
?Style from London? had Mr. May go to the Canali flagship store on New Bond Street in London. There he picked out the piece he felt was most versatile?the quilted field jacket?and then proceeded to style it differently.


Tweet from Canali

The feature includes a text article with quotes from Mr. May as well as a video that documents his styling session.

In the opening shot the scene is set, showing streets in London and then the exterior of the brand?s store as Mr. May talks about how London blends different styles together.


Still from Canali Style from London

The stylist then explains that as he was looking at the spring collection from the brand, the field jacket jumped out at him as the most malleable to casual and formal looks.

Throughout the video, Mr. May creates a suit look for day, a jeans and scarf look for traveling and a minimal look with white jeans.


Still from Canali Style from London

While the brand is very Italian, the stylist incorporated British touches, showing that the brand has a global appeal. His opinions on the clothing act as a form of endorsement.

Canali recently redesigned its Web site, giving it a crisp white background with a tile layout to help the decades-old brand affirm its place in modern men?s closets.

As part of the redesign, the brand included a journal-style section of its Web site, which it launched with a video series showing global creative minds explaining the method behind their work. By redesigning its Web site and creating editorial content, Canali is encouraging visitors to explore and return frequently (see story).

Now, with the addition of tastemakers to the mix, Canali is boosting its editorial content further.

"With the growth and influence of social media, putting out a magazine with images of models wearing your clothes is no longer enough," Ms. Silverman said. "As a fashion brand, adding editorial content to your digital media has become the standard.

"Brands have been forced to create more content around products, tell more of a brand story like J.Crew and Burberry have been doing for years," she said.

"Moving forward, Canali can leverage and share user generated content to help strengthen brand trust and further bring their clothing to life. Customers trust reviews from their peers more then ones that come from experts or the brands themselves. Sharing UGC is an easy way to engage the costumer and gives them a reason to pay attention to what you?re saying online."

British invasion
Canali previously targeted British men through an event at Harrods.

The British department store hosted a made-to-measure event in March that brought together tailors from 13 menswear labels.

Consumers could schedule a one-on-one appointment with one of the tailors from brands including Tom Ford, Ermenegildo Zegna, Gucci, Brioni and Canali. Harrods as a retailer had the opportunity to offer a range of brands, making this event stand out in the made-to-measure landscape (see story).

Mr Porter is a platform men trust as a fashion guide.

The retailer started a new season of its Style Clinic series to address sartorial concerns of its fashion-conscious male audience.

Mr Porter released the first episode in its online magazine ?The Journal,? with a call for submissions of questions from its consumer base. By talking directly to its audience, and asking for participation, Mr Porter will be able to further showcase its one-on-one styling customer service (see story).

"Adding in Mr. Porter?s experts gives more credibility to the style suggestions because it adds an 'unbiased' opinion to the conversation," Ms. Silverman said.

"Assuming that customers trust Mr. Porter as a reputable fashion source, the additional layer of support for the brand and products reaffirms to the consumers that item is fashionable and a part of this season?s trends," she said.

Sarah Jones, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York