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The shape of shopping
Lifestyle edits are evolving to meet new buying habits
Now more than ever, our shopping habits indicate personal values and cultural literacy – especially when nearly every part of our life is snapped and shared. Lifestyle edits have long been a staple in magazines and digital platforms, mapping key product essentials around a trend, celebrity or occasion. They may take the form of still life shoots, shoppable interviews or direct-to- consumer innovations. And their currency is becoming increasingly valuable in a world where our retail options have become almost impossibly vast and accessible. Here, we unpick three ways in which lifestyle edits are shaping how we spend it.
Still Life
A firm magazine favourite, the still life has long mapped desirables across beauty and fashion. This particular type of lifestyle edit lends itself to abstract, artistic and conceptual styling where products are arranged thematically. Here at 3CC, we create them for every issue of Toni & Guy magazine. The Basic Instinct shoot featured luxury skincare and make-up amid a decadent, golden setting that spoke to AW17’s 1980s trend. Additionally, for Compass Magazine we created a seasonal edits for each issue, such as knitwear essentials available from independent retailers in London.
Compass Magazine Issue 03 Winter Still Life
Influencer
Online platforms such as Semaine and Into The Gloss have made it easy to snoop around the cabinets and closets of esteemed beauty bloggers, stylists and artists. Influencers reveal their treasured buys and belongings, blending insider content with easily shoppable editorial. Both platforms rely on an interview format that creates a direct and authentic conversation reminiscent of getting recommendations from a trusted friend.
Into The Gloss online platform
Direct-to- consumer
Direct-to- consumer innovations are slowly but surely subverting print and influencer authority. A recent example is phone app Screenshop, which allows consumers to use any screenshot as a digital store. For example, the app can scan the outfits in images favourited on instagram or Tumblr, offer exact or similar style matches and guide users to relevant retailers. Elsewhere, Wardobe NYC takes an anti-fast fashion stance by curating sets of four and eight-piece wardrobes each season. Shoppers pick a look comprised of timeless pieces from covetable fashion editorials. Founded by former Vogue Australia fashion director Christine Centenera and designer Josh Goot, this new concept helps quells our thirst for endless browsing.
