Introducing virtual personal styling concept – cabi Front Row

Fashion-savvy women are embracing a new technologically advanced way to shop for their clothes & accessories thanks to the Virtual Personal Styling concept from cabi: introducing cabi Front Row.

With ‘Social Shopping’, luxury personal styling and technology at its core, cabi Front Row enables women to shop with friends and family from the comfort of their own homes. This shopping experience marries the best of online shopping—convenience, choice and autonomy, with the best of the brand’s flagship experience, personalized expert styling in the company of girlfriends.

cabi, was launched in 2002 by designer Carol Anderson, President Kimberly Inskeep and 10 other founding women, and prides itself on being a ‘company for women, by women.’ The designer fashion brand was launched to reinvent the way women shop and work. The cabi business model offers many different options to shop when, where and how the client wants, to suit her own lifestyle. Likewise, cabi Stylists can build their own businesses in a flexible way, allowing them to earn supplemental income, or replace lost income. Cabi’s flagship experience is centered around a personal Stylist who showcases the designer collection either in person, or virtually, complete with a personal styling experience designed to fit the needs of the guests. Cabi’s current seasonal fashion collection is available solely through Stylists.

cabi Front Row is the brand-new proprietary virtual styling platform, enabling cabi Stylists to present the cabi collection in an engaging online environment. Guests are welcomed into an interactive space alongside a group of friends or family all in their remote locations, where they can connect through video and chat, receiving styling ideas and personalized help from a trained cabi Stylist.

The Front Row experience is like watching a runway fashion show up close and personal in your own home, with your own front row seat. As guests view beautifully shot collection videos, they can easily ‘like’ pieces as they appear, and create a virtual dressing room from which to make their purchases. cabi Front Row delivers what women want while they shop – an engaging experience, convenient technology, personal connection and professional guidance – it is one of the many options that cabi offers their clients – enabling them to shop and get styled at their own convenience and at a time they choose. After clients purchase and the virtual experience ends, they can access the list of what they liked (but didn’t buy) on an app, cabi Tap. They can also see recommendations for what else to purchase to mix and match with what’s currently in their cabi closet.

cabi Stylists were quick to embrace this virtual technology with a record 1,050 front row shows taking place in the US during the week commencing August 10th. Over the course of the Spring ’20 season a cabi Front Row show’s average sales figure was as high as 80% of pre Covid-19 sales – exceeding cabi’s expectations for their virtual platform in its infant stages.

This kind of resilience is proving to be rare within the global fashion industry. The McKinsey institute predicts that the revenues for the global fashion industry will contract by 27-30 percent in 2020 year-on-year, with the personal luxury goods industry, (including luxury fashion and luxury accessories) contracting as much as 35-39 percent year-on-year.

President and Chief Marketing Officer Katie Malone says, “Our offering, a combination of real-life interaction with a Stylist who gets to know you, combined with digital content, is proving to be a success in these very challenging times. This multi-channel experience allows the cabi client to choose when, where and how she shops. We are so proud of how our community has embraced this step change.

cabi Front Row is a digital first for us – and for the industry of Social Selling. By digitally turbocharging our company offering, underpinned by our mark of distinction, which is personal connection and relationship, we are securing a future for ourselves and our Stylists, and providing an agile shopping experience for our loyal clients.”