As the opening of several new luxury retailers gets nearer, Square One Shopping Centre is bringing the glamour of up-and-coming fashion influencers and one of the country’s biggest film events close to home.
The Mississauga, ON shopping centre’s Fall/Winter 2015 campaign “Up Close and Personal with Julia Restoin Roitfeld as Photographed by Sophie Elgort” features, as the title implies, model Julia Restoin Roitfeld (daughter of CR Fashion Book editor Carine Roitfeld) in photos taken by Sophie Elgort (daughter of Vogue cover photographer Arthur Elgort). The photos are meant to show “private moments of a glamorous life” and feature Roitfield in poses inside and outside a home.
In 2016, Square One will open a new “luxury wing” featuring retailers like Holt Renfrew and the first Ontario location of La Maison Simons. In anticipation of this, the shopping centre has been targeting a more luxury-focused, style-conscious shopper within its 25- to 54-year-old female demographic since late 2014. This push has included using popular photographers in the social space, including Elgort, to take behind-the-scenes looks at various fashion weeks around the world on Square One’s Instagram account, as well as a curated, fashion-forward pop-up concept store.
Toni Holley, marketing director for Square One Shopping Centre, says consumers responded positively to the “behind-the-scenes” content during the fashion week takeovers, which led to a personal perspective for the Fall/Winter campaign. The fashion Roitfeld sports in the photos was taken from Square One’s current retailers and the ones that will soon be arriving to the luxury wing.
“With each campaign, we’ve been laddering up to this moment,” Holley says, adding that Square One is planning to use a mix of models and photographers popular in the social space again for its Spring 2016 campaign. “Our past few campaigns have been about separating Square One from other shopping centres and creating our own identity to connect with that target customer. I think we’re always going to be a destination for everyone, we’re just enhancing the luxury side of our retail mix and attracting another demographic, because that’s a market that we haven’t really tapped into in the past.”
The photos will be featured on the web, in Square One’s online lookbook and in print ads in Fashion, Toronto Life and the Toronto International Film Festival’s annual style guide. PR, social and media is being handled by NKPR.
Square One is also partnering with TIFF for the first time as the red carpet sponsor at the Princess of Wales Theatre. Photographers will be capturing fashion on the red carpet that will be displayed daily on digital video screens inside Square One, as well as on its web and social channels.
