Harry Styles appearance at Burberry show during London Fashion Week led to over 7,000 mentions
The appearance by One Direction star Harry Styles in the front row of the Burberry show at London Fashion Week helped the brand win the publicity battle on social media, with over 21,000 mentions being made about the show on Twitter, Facebook and blogs.
Over a third of these posts mentioned Styles, according to business information group Precise.
The research found that Burberry garnered over the double the amount of mentions that Topshop did – 10,000 – while Vivienne Westwood had only 3,000 mentions.
James Withey, Head of Brand Insight at Precise said: “The massive growth in social media buzz around this year’s event shows how important social media now is to the fashion world. Where once, a brand could rely on having a few key editors on-side, today’s arbiters of a brand’s success or failure are the thousands of enthusiasts who follow them closely. This year’s exhibitors will doubtless be pleased to know that over 95% of the posts we have tracked over the past week were positive.
“What also stood out about this year’s event was the extent to which the ‘front row celebrities’ have shaped these conversations – even overtaking the brand completely at times. Will such big spikes help these brands cement their reputations with target consumers? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, it has been encouraging to see many up-and-coming designers harnessing social media with a different rule book – using their events to widen the awareness and appeal of their work.”
Styles wasn’t the only front row celebrity leading to a social media frenzy - Lady Gaga’s appearance at the Philip Treacy show led to to over 5,000 mentions for her in association with London Fashion Week: 2,000 more than Treacy received himself.