- Burberry said it will become the first luxury retailer to livestream a fashion show on Twitch, the Amazon-owned platform predominantly used for gaming videos.
- The British fashion house will broadcast its Spring/Summer 2021 show on the streaming platform. No spectators will attend in-person.
- Burberry became the first luxury brand to livestream a runway show in February 2010.
- New York Fashion Week is currently being broadcast via livestream, though some shows elsewhere have taken place in person, with social distancing measures.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Burberry said it plans to become the first luxury retailer to livestream a fashion show on streaming service Twitch, which is typically used for video games content.
The British fashion house, which has more than 400 stores globally, will broadcast its Spring/Summer 2021 show on the streaming platform on September 17, it announced on Monday. No guests will attend in-person.
Amazon-owned Twitch is the world’s biggest live-streaming platform. It broadcasts gaming videos, esports competitions, and more general-interest events, such as concernts. Burberry is the first luxury fashion house to announce it will stream a show on the platform.
Burberry’s stream will show footage filmed from various angles, all appearing in one window on Twitch.
Burberry told Business Insider it couldn’t disclose any further information when asked whether streaming with Twitch would be a permanent move for the brand.
Fashion houses including Chanel, Prada, Versace, and Burberry were forced to postpone shows across the world this spring. New York Fashion Week is currently taking place via livestream, after lockdown restrictions prevented spectators from attending.
In some places, guests have been allowed to attend shows in-person: Milan's first two socially distanced fashion shows ran in July.
As well as having to cancel shows, fashion houses have watched luxury goods sales plummet during the pandemic. In July, Burberry said it could cut up to 500 jobs globally – or around 5% of its workforce – after comparable year-on-year sales fell 45% in the three months to June.
Its June sales were only 20% down on June 2019, and the brand expects sales in the quarter to September to decline by around 15% to 20%, compared to the same period in 2019.
Last month, Burberry became the first major luxury brand to launch face masks, though the brand hasn't announced an official release date yet. The masks feature Burberry's iconic check pattern and will cost £90 ($116) each. The brand will donate 20% of the revenue to its COVID-19 fund.