Like every year, it’s the talk of the town. No one could have missed that Stockholm Fashion Week AW18 took place a couple of weeks ago here in Stockholm.

And of course we have things to tell you about it!

There is something special about fall collections that makes us long for a new wardrobe; we basically want to buy it all. This year we saw a lot of interesting pieces and previous iconic looks on a whole new level. For example, the fabulous and stylish silk trend, that took a huge leap into fashion only about a year ago, is now the trend we spotted from head to toe – worn in light colours. For example a dressed up suit where both jacket and trousers were made of shimmering silk. If you’re not ready to commit fully to the trend you could get a long, dark, silk dress and use as a cover up instead – perfect for the fall breeze. Ida Klamborn presented a great silky touch in her collection as well, style this with a pair of cool Dr. Martens and your outfit is done.

Another trend that we spotted this season was the dark velvets – especially in men‘s clothing. Indulge in the trend by wearing both a pair of trousers and a jacket in velvet and you’re good to go, Mister!

Turtlenecks are a great piece for fall and is still a go to for this season. But if you’re not a fan of the strangling shirt from the 15th century, you can always cover up and elongate your neck with a pretty neck warming scarf, inspired by the AW18 runway.

The faux fur is also still a must-have and they come in all different styles and colours – which one is your favorite? Our pick is definitely a one in a bold colour, perhaps fiery red or cobalt blue – if we’re brave enough, that is.

There are always things that fascinate us about Fashion Week. The one thing that made us extra curious this time around was the fact that Grand Hotel didn’t serve any alcoholic beverages.

Maybe the designers were afraid that drinks could ruin their light and silky masterpieces. Or maybe there were a bigger statement behind that decision.

But there is one thing we’re sure about, and that is the fact that the upcoming season will give us spectacular looks on the streets of Stockholm. Remember – the Scandinavian fashion never goes of style.

All over the world, influencers are winning the hearts of people and their popularity doesn’t seem to decline anytime soon. We see some of the world’s biggest brands using influencer marketing to promote themselves, and we see brands paying vast amounts of money to influencers with a large following. However, a newer concept known as micro-influencer marketing recently entered the social media scene and in some cases, less is actually more.

Micro influencers are individuals with a smaller amount of followers on social media, typically thousands or ten of thousands. They drive high levels of engagement and take pride in sharing their expertise with and being emotionally close to their followers. These influencers show that they are real people, just like you and me. And by making their content authentic and letting their stories come across as genuine, they are perceived to be trustworthy and reliable.

With their smaller following also comes the niche advantage that they can reach a certain kind of consumer with razor-sharp precision. Micro influencers can therefore post content that is tailored to their targeted audience, resulting in a feeling of higher relevance and credibility. Logically, they are less pricy than major influencers that require enormous amounts of money just for a one post. Moreover, it’s easier to build up a long-term relationship to a brand that creates more trustworthy content over time.

Of course using an influencer with a larger following gives you a high reach, which often is a part of a brand’s goals. With micro influencers you have to plan more carefully since their reach is limited, and therefore work with multiple engagers in order to achieve impact. This is time consuming since it requires one to manage both more personalities and more content.

At the end of the day, influencer marketing is all about a balance between reach and relevance. Although it is important to remember that the engagement micro influencers get from their followers is substantial. Going further than awareness to truly move people, they drive action. And this is something that brands can no longer ignore.

To get a peek at Spring/Summer 2018, AWB attending Copenhagen’s Fashionfair and Stockholm Fashion Week, giving us the first look at what trends will be launching in Scandinavia and worldwide!

We believe Copenhagen to be one of the front runners in the fashion world, providing constant inspiration in all areas of the business and art form. Even Leandra Medine, known internationally for her lifestyle and fashion site “ManRepeller” has appointed ‘Scandies’ as the new style-inspiration for the season.

During Stockholm Fashion Week, we saw a lot of fur. The fur trend is a timeless style, but designers and fashion houses are constantly finding ways to reinvent the look through new shapes and colours.

In terms of colourways, a soft lilac colour was spotted throughout the streets and runways alike. The fresh colour works perfectly paired with a bold red garment too. We’re hanging onto this trend from fall for a little bit longer!

We saw statement sneakers with bold monograms and chunky soles. We also spotted the very cool and bold heel which we in Sweden would call a classic ‘Taxklack’. No more super high heels! Let´s do like the Danes and keep it low.

Checks and stripes continue to cover the fashion world and let’s be honest, could we ever get enough of the ‘Gossip Girl’ trend?! Don’t think so.

My final thoughts on the season? If we continue to look to the iconic 70´s looks and dig around our grandparents wardrobe for new season styles, you’ll be good to go.

P.S Don’t forget your scarf! Wear it in your own personal way, adding some staple earrings to complete your new look. Done!

Artificial Intelligence, or AI as it’s called on a day-to-day basis, is the talk of the town this autumn. Even though AI may be at the forefront of human technology, there’s no news that that the computer with full speed are outsmarting humans. Even if it may not be definable as AI, some say that the victory of computer “Deep Blue” over chess master Garry Kasparov in 1997 was the first sign of what was to come.

Today, twenty years later, it’s easy to say that the development has continued forwards at a furious pace. More than any year before, 2017 has been the year of AI. One of the best reads on the subject this year is from Vanity Fair (04/2017) where super entrepreneur Elon Musk is the centre of attention. Or really, Elon Musk’s hesitation towards the quick progress within the field of AI.

‘There’s no question that the top technologists in Silicon Valley now take A.I. far more seriously—that they do acknowledge it as a risk,” he observes. “I’m not sure that they yet appreciate the significance of the risk.’ – Vanity Fair, April 2017

If we look towards our own industry and context, how will the artificial intelligence affect the world of marketing? First of all, that question is not even relevant anymore, AI is already affecting the communications industry. Ever since the big social media platforms took over, AI has been a natural part of our reality. Within our industry, the really big opportunities with AI lay within the collection data from campaigns. Instead of relying on inaccurate insights about target audiences, in the future we will be given exact records about whom integrates with what content at what specific time. In the future we might even have campaigns that, in real time, adapt to the users behaviour? At the same time there’s also big opportunities in the campaign evaluation processes. In the future, the big media monitoring tools will be able to provide full reports and insight based on the data gathered, something that is done today, but this time won’t need any human supervision and interaction.

In an industry where we’re always discussing how to accurately measure the results of campaigns and actions, AI will be a salvation for the many but a headache for some. How many consulting hours will disappear when we get campaigns that evaluate and optimize themselves? We at AWB look at the future with optimism, even though it may cost us our jobs.

From AWB with true love. The only thing you’ll need when October says hello. Here is a delish pumpkin spice playlist!