The Baileys Trunk Show took place recently at Art Extra in Joburg. Baileys wanted to connect with 27-35 year old style-conscious consumers and boost the premium credentials of the brand. We suggested the social end of fashion (i.e. shopping) as a platform. There were a couple of reasons for this, firstly, although we thought fashion made lots of sense considering the audience and the amount of media which cover fashion, there was also a lot of clutter so we wanted to find some space for Baileys to operate in. It seems that every day there is another fashion show somewhere in South Africa and there is a bit of fatigue for this type of activity so we wanted to avoid going down that route.

The concept of the Baileys Trunk Show was basically to fuse the relatively new pop-up store trend (still very fresh in South Africa) with a trunk show (which dates back to the 19th century and is a very similar concept). The campaign was also inspired by a trip I took to Dover Street Market in the UK. Run by Japanese label Comme Des Garcons the store (it’s not actually a market) feels more like a gallery space than a shop and provides a totally different way to experience fashion.

With all this in mind we set about creating The Baileys Trunk Show a one-day-only event where consumers can purchase high-end fashion from local designers in a uniquely designed space. Perhaps one of the main challenges was finding a space that worked. We wanted to be well away from the normal shopping environments and create a place that had to be discovered. After looking at many venues around Sandton and Rosebank we came across Art Extra. This was perfect for us because it was a blank white space we could transform, it was relatively central (but not in a mall), and the art gallery setting also created that different environment we were after.

The designers were chosen from reviewing the local fashion weeks and putting together a mix of designers we felt would appeal to Baileys consumers. We were also after designers that had interesting stories behind them that would appeal to the media. In the end we chose Thula Sindi, Maya Prass, Stian Louw, Miss Scarlet, Abigail Betz, Fundudzi, Msanzi Designers and Carbon D’Afreeque. 

To get coverage for the event we pitched to the fashion news pages and what’s hot sections of the monthly magazines (four months in advance to hit their lead times). This resulted in great coverage in Destiny, True Love, Marie Claire, Elle, Garden & Home, Cosmopolitan and Glamour . So far so good. Short lead coverage was pitched from about three weeks before the event started and we concentrated on profiling designers but with a strong link through to the event. Again coverage was great in The Citizen, The Times, Beeld, Radio 2000, SAFM, 702, iafrica, ifashion, women24.com. We also invited TV crews along to profile the event and designers resulting in attendance from African Couture (SABC 3), Artcha (SABC 2) and Selimathunzi (SABC 1).

The event was styled by Chrisna De Bruyn who did an amazing job of fusing the retro influences of the original trunk shows with some very modern furniture pieces (ghost chairs for example).