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Fashion For Real People

MAX Fashion

Issue 39 | June 2016

Agency

Leo Burnett Dubai

Creative Team

Chief Creative Officer Bechara Mouzannar Executive Creative Director André Nassar Art Director André Nassar Senior Copywriter Samer Zouehid Art Director Hana Kawalit

Production Team

Milkshake Media Dev Vaswani

Other Credits

Regional Director Raja Sowan Communications Director Rasha El Ghoussaini Senior Planner Mark Haycock Digital Strategy Moey Shawash MAX Marketing Director Haroon Ul Rasheed

Date

November 2015

Background

Fashion was a dictatorial business. If anyone wanted to feel fashionable, she had to look a certain way. This was particularly true in Dubai, a city that had fast become the luxury capital of the world.

Dubai clothing retailer Max operated at the lower end of the price range. Its customers aspired to be fashionable, but could not afford the high prices charged by fashion labels.

Idea

Max aimed to democratise fashion by reframing it as accessible clothing that made wearers feel comfortable in their own skins and reflected their lifestyle.

To make the point that fashion should be what made women feel comfortable, Max launched a social experiment via video. It kitted out an ordinary Dubai mum in high fashion but asked her to wear the outfit as she went about her daily life.

"When I went out," she said, "I felt strange. I didn't feel natural."

An accompanying print campaign focused on capturing the beauty of everyday reality, and consumers could use an app to create a magazine cover to make their own fashion statements.

The experiment was extended on social media, with users in Dubai debating what constituted fashion. User-generated content started to challenge Dubai dress codes, particularly clubs that impose entry rules.

The campaign got a boost when popular local singer Mohammed Assaf picked up on it, later becoming the celebrity face of Max in TV commercials.

As part of a social experiment, a mum was dressed in high fashion.

She was asked to wear these clothes in her everyday life. Needless to say, she didn't feel comfortable

Results

The campaign generated 9.5 million views on social media, and 23.2m social media impressions. Press and TV coverage resulted in $1m worth of earned media.

Sales increased by 5% in two months (November 26, 2015 till January 26, 2016) vs the same period the year before.

The jacket worn by Mohammad Assaf almost sold out (99% sold vs. 75% the average sell-through rate), and subscriptions to Max's loyalty scheme increased by 40%.

Our Thoughts

This is a tough ask, really. Fashionistas would have it that if it a) isn't frighteningly expensive and b) uncomfortable to wear then it isn't really fashion.

By definition then, if it's affordable and comfortable, it can't be fashion. Max had to turn the prevailing wisdom about fashion on its head.

To compound the difficulty of Max's task, it was doing this in Dubai, capital of bling and label fascism.

That Max succeeded suggests that it tapped into an underlying discontent with the dictates of fashion. Inspired by Max, the good citizens of Dubai rebelled against fashion dictatorship.