The Fashion World is about to come alive in key cities during February and March creating a vibrancy across newspaper column inches, social media and the fashion capitals of the globe with the launch of Spring Fashion Week.
Out-of-Home (OOH) Advertising places your brand front and center of the fashion world hype as Fashion Week moves from city to city, show to show and party to party. OOH uniquely mirrors the energy of its cities, providing brands the opportunity to show up at the right time and place through its diverse delivery. OOH builds connection and engagement via:
- Fame: Standout through large format impact locations
- Frequency: Bespoke street level and transportation networks provide multiple opportunities to interact with your message
- Vibe: Murals, Guerilla and Wildposting opportunities integrate your message with the look and feel of fashion neighborhoods across respective cities
In this article, we highlight the top 5 international cities to consider when building your presence for Spring Fashion Week 2023, including New York City, Paris, London, Milan and the ever-growing Berlin fashion scene.
New York | February 9-15, 2023
New York is a primary market for luxury and fashion from the US and beyond. These brands advertise across premium outdoor locations in select neighborhoods throughout the city to see and be seen by a global fashion audience.
The city provides a diverse and progressive OOH landscape with opportunities across varied environments and a multitude of formats. NYC fashion advertisers should ensure they select inventory that provides visibility through impactful dominations supported by frequency-driving small formats in their audience’s key environments and neighborhoods.
Three key neighborhoods where fashion brands resonate most with fashion-forward audiences are Downtown, Midtown/Uptown, and Brooklyn:
- Downtown Manhattan, particularly Soho, contains some of the city’s best shopping from high-end designer brands to trendy boutiques. Fashion advertisers can be successful by positioning their OOH advertisements here to cater to a slightly younger and more creative crowd.
- Midtown and Uptown Manhattan is home to some of the priciest OOH real estate in the city. OOH advertisers can consider leveraging digital and traditional formats near Times Square, Grand Central Station and the Empire State Building to engage locals and tourists in the city.
- Brooklyn, known for the city’s best new store openings, is one of the most popular areas in the city for fashion-forward New Yorkers. OOH advertisers can leverage Rail advertisements as well as Bulletins, Posters and Murals throughout the area.
Paris | January 17-23, 2023
The official French name for Paris Fashion Week is Semaine des Createurs du Mode. About 100 shows are featured in the city with fashion weeks taking place in Carrousel du Louvre.
During Paris Fashion Week, the city of love is transformed into the city of high fashion. Here, the OOH landscape reflects the city’s unique atmosphere. Similar to Milan, large Banners support the city’s transformation and renovations. Street furniture networks such as News Kiosks cover all key arterial roads and neighborhoods of the city, while Transit formats in the metro areas offer great reach for commuters.
The key neighborhoods for fashion advertisers to target in Paris are the 8th, 4th and 1st Arrondissements.
- The 8th Arrondissement is one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in Paris and coveted by Haute Couture and iconic luxury brands. OOH consists of premium Banners, with street and below formats aplenty, making it a great option for high-end brands to reach their audiences.
- The fashionable Marais district in the 4th Arrondissement is filled with hip boutiques, galleries, and bars that cater to the fashion-forward and trendy. Creative activations fused with local knowledge are needed to unlock the best OOH opportunities in this neighborhood.
- The 1st Arrondissement of Paris, home to the Carrousel du Louvre and Les Halles, is one of the main shopping districts, with opportunities below and above ground to ensure visibility to the high footfall in this area.
London | February 18-22, 2023
London is a bustling, vibrant, multicultural and cosmopolitan city that bridges traditional and trendy. Old-fashioned pubs are next to the latest cocktail bars and historical towers are next door to its newest skyscrapers.
The city provides a rich OOH market for both classic and digital to deliver cut-through for fashion brands.
Fashion Week advertisers should consider the neighborhoods of Knightsbridge, Kensington and Chelsea; the West End; and Shoreditch. Depending on your chosen neighborhood you should take a slightly different approach to your creative placements.
- In Knightsbridge, Kensington and Chelsea, some of the most affluent neighborhoods of London, you’ll find many fashion boutiques of the highest order. Much of the OOH inventory is at street level and consists of Digital CLPs, with some select premium Banners and large format DOOH.
- In the vibrant West End, which is the main retail and cultural hub of London, OOH advertisers can leverage digital and classic opportunities for high impact across transportation formats on buses and in the underground stations.
- The East London district of Shoreditch remains one of the trendiest neighborhoods to explore in London. This is one of the strongest and most diverse OOH landscapes in the city, with plenty of large and small digital formats, as well as Wildpostings, Murals and Banners across the area to help brands reach the neighborhood in an authentic manner.
Milan | February 20-26, 2023
Milan comes to life as one of the leading European fashion hubs during fashion week. This city features a great combination of international audiences, trends, inspirations and luxury paths.
Much of the OOH media here is composed of Banners and Building Wraps of the highest quality in Europe that help fund the renovation of historic buildings across the city. Street-level inventory networks vary from Bus Shelters to free-standing digital and static units, all positioned in the key areas of Milan, while trams navigate their way through some of the busiest neighborhoods to deliver ads that standout and provide coverage.
The pick of neighborhoods for fashion week brands in Milan are the City Center, Montenapoleone, and Brera.
- City Center is home to some of the city’s best shopping brands and has great pedestrian routes, creating opportunities for OOH fashion advertisers at street level along with some standout building wraps.
- Montenapoleone is a high-end shopping district featuring the most iconic fashion brands including Hermes, YSL, Prada, Louis Vuitton and Versace. Many shops host private events here during fashion week, making it a great neighborhood to target your fashionista audience through both large and small format OOH placements.
- Brera is another great opportunity for OOH fashion advertisers as its clubs, outdoor dining restaurants and bars host many design and fashion events. Although not a rich neighborhood for OOH, there are creative possibilities.
Berlin | January 17-21, 2023
Berlin has positioned itself in recent years in the fashion world as the leading hub for sustainable and tech fashion. Though still relatively low-key, its 24-hour nightlife, thriving cultural scene, and complex history make it a city in constant flux with fashion in many forms.
Berlin’s neighborhoods each have a unique character, giving the German capital a dynamic and cosmopolitan vibe. This progressive city has some of the best large-format Banners in Europe, although they come at a premium. The key neighborhoods for OOH fashion advertisers are Kudam, Alexanderplatz (Mitte), and Kreuzberg/Fredrichshain.
- Kudam, one of Berlin’s most elegant and affluent boulevards, is Berlin’s most famous shopping street and features a strong OOH landscape at street level through Digital CLPs that can further be supported with a number of large format Banners and the famous digital screen of the Kudam E*Giant Poster.
- Alexanderplatz (Mitte) is the main retail hub in Berlin, and contains both digital and traditional opportunities with impact locations predominantly in the Ubahn/ Sbahn stations.
- Kreuzberg/Fredrichshain is dominated by street art, quirky bars and sought-after boutique collections. OOH advertisers can reach their audiences through Murals and Banners across the area as well as small format digital and classic inventory.
Get on the Runway with Billups!
Billups is a global OOH media services and ad tech partner well-positioned to deliver a cross-market activation for your fashion advertising campaigns for International Fashion Week and beyond. Our unique understanding of markets and neighborhoods in key countries ensures that your creative placements will cut through the “noise” of other brands in each city.
We prioritize your needs and want to find the right strategy to unlock the city while staying true to your brand. Contact us today to create your spring fashion week campaign!
