Witchery’s new season capsule off to a flying start straight from the runway

Fashion lovers can shop on sight straight from the runway, with Witchery’s new Runway Now innovation.

Model Nikki wears an outfit from Witchery’s new season collection. Picture: Richard Dobson

Witchery is following in the footsteps of international designers Burberry and Diane Von Furstenburg by allowing shoppers to purchase pieces straight from the runway.

On Wednesday, at 7.30pm, Witchery will hold a catwalk show for its Spring-Summer 2016 season and a limited edition, 13-piece capsule collection will be available to buy immediately while the show is live-streamed on witchery.com.au.

Business manager for women’s apparel and accessories Gavin Gage said the Runway Now initiative is part of a global trend. “You can see it on international runways. Consumers are wanting to buy the product straight away, they want to participate in the new collection launch,” he said.

“The immediacy is the appeal. For many years you’d have to wait six months to purchase something after you saw it on the runway but now fashion is so fast and the consumer is wanting the newest thing now.”

Shoppers can buy Witchery outfits such as this one straight from the catwalk. Picture: Richard Dobson

The capsule collection will include items from this season’s biggest trends, the boudoir-inspired La Parisienne Story, the separates of Urban Safari and the slip dresses of Nineties Redux.

To give the pieces extra cachet, the Runway Now pieces will have smaller production runs.

“In some styles, there will be under 100 units and a normal piece usually runs into the thousands of units, so it’s something really special,” Gage said.

It’s also great marketing for a brand, as they can track the items that sell out before the season officially commences, giving them time to produce additional styles they know will be popular with shoppers.

“You don’t have to wait for product to drop and see the customer’s reaction. This gives you an insight into what they like from a trend point of view and gives us the ability to revisit them,” Gage said.

“We have a lot of early adopters who will buy into a trend early and we’ll continue to explore it during the season.”

The practical logistics of purchasing items from the runway means the capsule collection will only be in four NSW stores; Mid City, Bondi Junction, Chatswood Chase and Miranda.

“Traditionally a runway show is a prelude to what’s showing across a number of months and we have time to get that product into store,” Gage said.