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The league wants fans to create and share their own looks.
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The NHL this week is launching a digital lookbook, featuring the apparel and accessories of all 16 of this year’s playoff teams and with a goal of playing to hockey fans’ fashion senses.
With help from personal stylist Brooke Williams and additional fashion bloggers, the league has put together head-to-toe, styled looks featuring items available in the NHL’s online store. The campaign will be launched on the league’s social media platforms on Wednesday, prior to the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs that night.
“We wanted to give customers more visual queues with stylized looks, as
we were inspired by the window design you might see at J. Crew or another retailer,” said Dave McCarthy, vice president of consumer products marketing at the NHL. “We’re attempting to use this lookbook as a window into our store, if you will.”
The NHL previously partnered with Williams, who has also worked with Fanatics, to put together outfit ideas for this year’s Winter Classic, said Joslin Warren, NHL director of e-commerce. With the playoffs coming up, and new spring-season apparel items now available, Warren said the league wanted to do something around all of the playoff teams.
To take the idea a step further, the league shot part of the campaign for some of its teams with models in its New York headquarters. Led by Lauren Borsuk, NHL e-commerce coordinator, the NHL also reached out to local fashion bloggers in select markets, such as Winnipeg and Pittsburgh, to include their curated looks.
The campaign will carry the branding of #StanleyCupStyle. The NHL hopes to encourage fans to share their own looks through a microsite it will make available that will feature a photo gallery of shared fan pictures alongside the league-provided looks. That microsite will also allow fans to click on the items they see featured in the photos and go directly from there to the NHL.com shop to buy the items, Warren said.
“We’re excited to feature some of our more fashion-conscious fans and hope their style can inspire others,” she said.
McCarthy said that if this latest effort into stylized looks is as successful as the league hopes, the NHL will likely look to build similar campaigns at other points of the year, such as back-to-school or the holiday season.
