Flexibility by the yard

Laufmeter has been bringing Swiss fashion designers out of their studios and into the public eye since 2013. The fashion shows for 2020 were already on track, the posters and programmes for three cities had been designed and the labels selected. Then the coronavirus arrived. Click here to continue the photo story:

Because of the pandemic, the paper bag for Laufmeter Zurich was never made. «We suddenly had to cancel all our events. That hurt. Fortunately, we were able to stop the printing just in time,» explains Project Manager Michaela von Siebenthal.

Packed crowds at the 2019 fashion show in Bern. Something that is not possible in 2020. The cancellation of all its events appeared to jeopardise the unique Laufmeter concept.

The Laufmeter team had to quickly adapt their strategy and shift the focus away from big-audience events to the online shop that had originally been planned for implementation much later.

Over a year ago, the Migros Pioneer Fund had encouraged the project management team in workshops to not only expand the fashion shows but also set up an online store. Michaela wasn't particularly keen on the idea at the time...

...but she and the project team began setting up the shop nonetheless. The first photo shoot for the beta version of the online store took place in the autumn of last year.

«Looking back, it was a stroke of luck,» admitted Michaela. «It meant that we could build on what we had already prepared for the shop relatively quickly.» The second photo shoot for the web shop took place during the lockdown in May 2020, observing all the safeguards.

The group picture is a collage of different images, as the models were only allowed into the studio individually and could not therefore be photographed as a group. «Necessity is the mother of invention after all,» said Michaela.

Finally, everything was ready and the Laufmeter online shop was officially launched on Monday, 8 June 2020!

Laufmeter showcased its twelve labels via short video profiles under the heading «12 Labels, 1 Online Shop». All of the footage was shot via Zoom during the lockdown.

The web shop has proved a resounding success and already notched up thousands of visits. Michaela and her team send out packages to customers every day.

To ensure that they can continue doing this, they'll need to continue being inventive because the consistent use of the online-first strategy will bring constant change. This will span everything from collaborating with the labels and adapting the marketing strategy to the team's mindset.

It's still not clear whether there will be a fashion show next year. «The situation is changing daily. The only constant right now is that our team is currently concentrating on expanding the product range. Twenty-five Swiss labels are already represented in the online store,» said Michaela.