The spring/summer campaign will go live across Westfield Bondi Junction and Westfield Doncaster on August 20 and will run until the end of October 2011. The finished product will identify global trends in a way that reflects the Australian lifestyle, as interpreted by the Westfield team led by Sewell, who worked locally on the initiative for two months.
The trends will then be showcased through a series of campaign imagery and online videos which will highlight the best of Westfield’s retailer offerings via Shine Magazine, POS in-centre, www.westfield.com.au, style leaders’ blogs and website, media partnerships and PR.
Westfield general manager of marketing John Basticish said the project would cement the shopping giant’s place in the market and also encourage sales and evolve the brand.
“As a shopping centre, it is important for us to engage with our shoppers and we believe that by collaborating with credible personalities such as Yasmin, we are giving shoppers a different and inspirational experience – reinforcing our position as the premium and leading shopping destination in Australia,” he said.
“By identifying the global trends that will work within the Australian market, we aim to inspire and assist our shoppers in identifying the key trends and items that they need to update their summer wardrobe with and how to interpret them for themselves. At the same time we’re assisting customers further by pinpointing those key items that will be available at Westfield retailers.”
Sewell, who now runs her own creative consultancy and forecasting agency in the UK, also recruited four local style influencers – Romy Frydman, Peter Simon Phillips, Amanda Cumming and Kate Reynolds – to work with her on the project, and she said she is confident that the investment by all parties will pay off.
“This is different as usually I work with retailers on their stores, buying strategy and design or with designer brands directly, but I’ve been able to shift the process a bit by creating a campaign that incorporates the many retailers that Westfield offer,” she said.
“Collaborating with the style leaders and being able to pull them together was also rewarding, and it’s projects like this that should ideally gear up the shoppers and assist in increasing sales. Thankfully Westfield is bold enough to create something that brings about awareness, and they have thought a lot about this project and have really invested in an experienced and knowledgeable team of creatives all round.”
Sewell is the second internationally-based style director to work with Westfield, following fashion icon Garance Dore who directed a similar campaign for Westfield last season. Her previous experience includes Mulberry, luxe fashion website Moda Operandi, Peter Pilotto, Liberty department store and buying director at Browns London.
Daniela Aroche