In today’s digital world, where e-commerce is a fully integrated part of the shopping experience, building trust is more crucial than ever for fashion brands. Shoppers are often skeptical of how clothes will look on them in real life, especially when they’re used to seeing heavily edited and retouched product images. This is where unretouched try-ons come into play, and Zara recently made a strong statement with their 'Zara Streaming with Cindy and Kaia' initiative.
Zara Streaming: Showcasing Versatility with a Real Touch
Zara collaborated with supermodel Cindy Crawford and her daughter, Kaia Gerber, to create a live-streamed fashion event that aimed to showcase their pieces in a versatile, unedited manner.
The live stream featured the two models trying on various outfits, sharing how the clothes fit, moved, and could be styled in real time. This approach allowed Zara to bring a more authentic, relatable touch to their fashion, helping customers visualize how the pieces would work beyond the polished studio shots.
Zara also complemented the stream with a seamless shopping experience. Alongside the video, they featured all the items used in the story, making it possible for customers to purchase the pieces they liked immediately. This direct link between inspiration and action — seeing an outfit in real life and being able to buy it in the same moment — made Zara's approach not just authentic but incredibly effective in driving sales.
The key takeaway from Zara’s initiative is that it provided customers with a real, unfiltered look at the clothing, something that’s often missing in online shopping. It allowed shoppers to see the garments in motion, with natural lighting and genuine reactions, making it easier to imagine how the clothes would fit into their own lives. This authenticity builds trust, a crucial factor in converting online browsers into buyers.
What Brands Can Learn from Zara's Example
Transparency builds trust: Showing clothing in an unretouched, real-life setting helps break down the skepticism that many online shoppers feel. It reassures customers that what they see is what they’ll actually get, making them more confident in their purchasing decisions.
Engaging content: The live, interactive format of Zara’s streaming session allowed them to engage with customers in real time, creating a sense of involvement and connection that’s hard to achieve through static images or pre-recorded videos.
Versatility through styling: Zara effectively showcased the versatility of their pieces by trying different styling options during the streaming. This allowed viewers to see how each item could be worn in various ways, making it easier for customers to envision how these pieces could fit into their own wardrobes. Demonstrating multiple ways to style a product encourages more engagement and ultimately drives higher sales, as shoppers feel inspired by the variety of looks they can create.
Seamless shopping experience: By featuring the items used in the video directly in the story, Zara enabled customers to transition from inspiration to purchase effortlessly. This strategy is a powerful way to convert interest into immediate sales.
How 2Jour Stylist Takes It a Step Further
While Zara’s approach focused on showcasing versatility through high-profile figures and an integrated shopping experience, 2Jour Stylist (the overview of the platform in test is available here) offers brands a platform that takes the unretouched try-on concept even further in a unique way. What sets 2Jour Stylist apart is the focus purely on how the clothing looks, feels, and moves in real life on a real person, not a professional model, influencer, or celebrity.
Why Should Brands Consider 2Jour Stylist Platform?
True-to-life presentation: The fitting room setting on 2Jour Stylist ensures that customers see the clothing in its most authentic form, providing a realistic view of the fit, fabric, and movement. This makes it easier for shoppers to gauge how the item will work for them, which is often a challenge in the online shopping experience;
Bridging the gap between polished and real: While luxury brands often aim for a polished, flawless display on their websites, 2Jour Stylist offers an ideal space where they can show their items in a more unfiltered, but real way. This creates a balance — brands maintain their refined image on their primary platform but offer a place where customers can check the items in a real, unedited setting, enhancing trust and confidence in their purchase.
Confident choices: By seeing how the items actually look during a fitting room try-on, customers feel more certain about their selections. This minimizes returns and ensures that shoppers are fully satisfied with their choices, ultimately benefiting both the brand and the consumer.
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Zara's "Streaming with Cindy and Kaia" is an excellent example of how unretouched try-ons can build trust, enhance engagement, and showcase versatility in the online shopping experience. By featuring items in real-time and allowing customers to purchase them instantly, Zara set a new standard for authenticity in luxury fashion.
2Jour Stylist digital lookbook platform with unretouched fashion goes one step further by providing a dedicated space where fashion is presented in its truest form, unedited and realistic. This approach gives brands the chance to show their collections as they truly are while allowing customers to make confident, informed choices. In a world that constantly searches for what's real, sometimes showing things as they genuinely are can be the most powerful strategy for building lasting trust.