Copenhagen Fashion Week lacked the influencer buzz

Copenhagen Fashion Week really put itself on the fashion map with its Scandi-cool brands, sustainable credentials, as well as its ability to attract all the streetstyle influencers, however, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, with travel bans and social-distanced showcases it seems influencers stayed away, and so did their much-needed social media engagement.

This August, Traackr, an influencer marketing and management platform, tracked 159 influencers, who mentioned Copenhagen Fashion Week 349 times, with an engagement rate of 1.44 percent, according to data from the company from August 1 to 12.

Compared to Copenhagen Fashion Week in January 2020, there were 55 percent fewer activated influencers and 73 percent fewer influencer generated posts, resulting in 87 percent less engagement.

Commenting on the drop in social engagement, Evy Lyons, vice president of marketing at Traackr said over e-mail to FashionUnited: “Covid-19 has further heightened the fashion industry’s challenges, which have been brewing for some time. The concept of biannual fashion shows and releasing collections only twice per year has been considered anachronistic for some time now.

“It’s evident in the data that fewer influencers are engaging in CPHFW and audiences are similarly not as interested.”

Ganni most talked about brand at Copenhagen Fashion Week

The most talked about brand in the lead up to the event and during Copenhagen Fashion Week was Ganni, added Traackr. The brand, which hosted an exhibition-by-appointment showcase instead of a catwalk show, received 208 posts and 156,000 engagements from 120 activated influencers.

Other top performers included Saks Potts, which had the highest engagement rate of 4 percent, which Traackr explained indicates “very strong content efficiency” and Baum Und Pferdgarten, who had the highest influencer advocacy of 2.9 percent (posts/influencer) and overall had 77 posts by 27 influencers.

Lyons, added: “One trend we’ll see more of are brands partnering with influencers for their upcoming drops or launches, offering more flexibility and styling options for consumers, ultimately breathing new life into how designers will get in front of their customers.

“Because Covid has been an accelerant in so many ways, it’s forced the rigid fashion industry to take part in revamping its approach, and Fashion Week will be no different.”

Image: courtesy of Ganni