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The new Jil Sander boutique is just a mouse click away, a search engine has been introduced for Prada clothing and the decision on shoes by Jimmy Choo or Christian Louboutin can be made from the comfort of the sofa.

More and more luxury brands are turning to doing business on the Internet, a medium long deemed unsuitable for trade in the sector with its exclusive standards and intensive level of consultation.

Today, one can find practically everything online that previously would have had to be acquired on trips to New York, Milan or Paris. Now, many of the world’s designers sell at least part of their collections via links on their homepages.

Several high-end labels can be acquired through virtual designer stores such as Net-a-porter or Stylebop. These compete with the increasing online activities of existing high-end boutiques. Even outlets that distribute remainder stock are online.

Just a few years ago, the mere mention of something like this would have made heads shake.

“When I started, at best one could effectively only sell accessories via the Internet,” recalls Mario Eimuth, who founded Stylebop in 2004 and has since added items from high-end labels brands for sale from his base in Munich.

In the meantime, even the most expensive cashmere pullover or lavish evening gown can be ordered and delivered from any shop worldwide. This can, of course, be seen as a contradiction of the elitist fundamental principle of luxury.

Eimuth prefers to see it rather as a major exercise in democratization.

As with any product marketed over the Internet, the greatest advantage with designer fashion lies in the constant availability of the product. An online shop is open 24 hours. It delivers to the home or office. It also gives men and women in small towns the chance to acquire fashion items without having to travel.

There are, however, drawbacks. “The emotional factor is the biggest disadvantage and, at the same time, the biggest challenge in online business,” Benjamin Guenther says.

Guenther is one of the four founders of Starlight, a search engine that uses various specific criteria in trawling multiple online shops.

It is not possible to simulate the atmosphere of a designer flagship store, but online businesses know the importance of emotion and sensuality when it comes to shopping.

Stylebop, for instance, provides rotating three-dimensional views of clothing items. Net-a-porter provides small video clips of models wearing the pieces.

With the new smartphones that combine calls and Internet access, consumers are now free of restraints on their movement. Special applications for this format are the latest weapon in wooing fashion customers.

Certain applications can now trace the origins of an item of clothing photographed on the street, or provide exclusive access to a limited edition of a particular fashion house.

Where all this will end, no one knows. Natalie Massenet, the woman behind Net-a-Porter, predicts a gradual complete disintegration of in-store trade. Others speak of the parallel existence of various possibilities.

After all, a stroll in the city is quite a sociocultural event. 



DPA