LivingSocial’s flash sale site Shop next week will become the exclusive retailer selling fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi’s six-item 2013 Chevrolet Malibu-inspired collection. The daily deal operator will begin selling the items on a section of LivingSocial.com devoted to the collection on Oct. 16 at 12 p.m. EDT.
While Shop often provides a venue for brands to move excess inventory, LivingSocial is now focusing more on using it as a forum to highlight new or unique products, says Mitch Spolan, senior vice president of national sales at LivingSocial.
The collection came about as a result of a Chevrolet sponsorship deal with the LivingSocial, Spolan says. “Chevy is relaunching the car and the car is all about style,” he says. “How better to highlight that style than Isaac Mizrahi using the car’s design as inspiration?”
The collection will feature items ranging from a $110 pair of red driving moccasins inspired by the Malibu’s “Crystal red tint coat” paint color to a $298 black leather jacket with quilted detailing and interior blue contrast piping that resembles the stitching on the car’s seats.
Chevrolet is promoting the collection on its Facebook page, which features several videos that detail how he developed the designs. Consumers can also use a Polyvore mini-editor tool to mix and match images from the collection to create and publish collages that they can share with their friends. Polyvore is an online fashion community that allows users to share images from any Internet retailer to craft fashion-focused collages.
Sponsorships, such as the arrangement with Chevrolet, are one of the fastest growing segments of LivingSocial, Spolan says. In the past year the daily deal operator has worked with companies such as Microsoft Corp., Pepsico Inc. and Kraft Foods Group Inc. to develop various types of sponsorship arrangements that range from the Malibu-inspired to collection to developing experiences in line with the brand’s persona, he says. For instance, a Mike’s Hard Lemonade Co. sponsorship this summer focused on the idea of “doing summer differently.” That concept led LivingSocial to sell a three-day “adult” summer camp experience where the brand’s alcoholic beverages were served while attendees took part in camp-like activities such as rafting on a lake.
Microsoft is No. 74 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.
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