Can't get to the shops? These boutiques come to you

When fashion stores and chains shut their doors due to the pandemic, consumers had to delay certain purchases as they were unable to try on the new collections. While some brands launched free and flexible return policies for online shopping or even billed customers for their choices only after they were sent clothes to try on, other brands decided to go directly to their clients by launching fashion trucks.

Imagine a truck or a trailer that stops a few meters away from your home, allowing you to try on a dress or the shoes you have been visiting online and dreaming about for months. This concept has become reality since the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. Even if certain lockdowns are coming to an end in some parts of the globe, physical shops are struggling to attract customers because of cumbersome sanitary protocols and consumers' fears of being in closed spaces for extended periods. Which is why certain brands have decided to launch innovative shopping experiences to meet their clients.

Ready-to-wear on wheels

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That's what some Indian fashion addicts in Delhi and Gurugram experienced this summer, with a Levi's fashion truck. As Business Insider puts it, the concept is rather simple since it is nothing but a shop on wheels. It offered tops, shorts, and lightweight comfortable denim to try on at home. If the client wants alterations, the team takes measurements and the final product is dropped off with the customer. But Levi's was not the only traveling brand in India this summer, many other stores were on the move in order to try to get around the crowds issue when it comes to shopping.

... as well as luxury

Luxury label Tamara Mellon also adopted the fashion truck concept with a US tour stopping in River Oaks District in Houston between November 28 and December 20. The Jimmy Choo's co-founder's brand chose the upscale shopping area to present its mobile shoe closet. Interested fashionistas have to book an appointment online to discover their favorite models in an original setting where social distancing applies. A boon as the holiday gift season gets underway.

Also in the USA, Louis Vuitton allows its clients to indulge in a new type of shopping experience through a high-end trailer that stops in your driveway (if it's large enough!). As Vogue US puts it, the luxury French label has customized a "traveling boutique." Those interested need to make an appointment with the LV team, then a selection of garment and accessories will be made available for you to try on in the comfort of a private five-star trailer (with quilted wall and creme carpeting). The only hitch is that this trailer only travels to three US states: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

It remains to be seen if such traveling boutiques will roll out in other countries if client demand warrants it as lockdowns continue to be put into place.