Talk about fast fashion. Designers and retailers are jumping on the mobile bandwagon, so to speak, and dishing out clothes, shoes, accessories and even full-on runway shows via fashion trucks traveling all across the country.
The trucks are taking after the current food truck craze, re-imagining regular courier and delivery trucks into chic mobile shops. They’re offering designers and brands the chance to reach out to their shoppers on a personal level, while shoppers get to see the products firsthand and in the convenience of their own neighborhoods. In addition, some of the wares found on board may be exclusives or limited-edition, and the trucks are taking fashions to places not otherwise reached.
Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley, for example, has been on the road for the last year in her “mobile style unit” and most recently toured the West Coast, scouting out possible future retail market sites. The closest Cynthia Rowley boutique to Left Coasters otherwise would be in Chicago. At one 2 1/2 hour stop in Silver Lake, Calif., the truck made $1,000.
Rowley told the L.A. Times:
“It’s an experience…I’ve had people tell me they thought it was just cool to be able to buy a fashion piece from a truck.”
Other retailers are taking note. Skechers just finished a coast-to-coast summer “Shape Up America Tour,” and Hello Kitty is currently celebrating parent company Sanrio, Inc.’s 50th anniversary by touring from San Francisco to Miami in a mobile home filled with limited-edition products.
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