The first look at J. Crew’s fall catalog isn’t reserved for
the glossy pages of a traditional mailer anymore. This year, the fashion
retailer is getting hip to glossy (and matte) displays of another sort: any
device with access to Pinterest. On
Monday, J. Crew unveiled its fall catalog board on Pinterest, giving loyal
followers an early glimpse at the collection and the opportunity to preorder
new styles. The effort is a social media marketing first for any fashion brand
on the virtual pinboard site. It’s a
fresh move for J. Crew, which just last year didn’t have even a smidge of
social media presence. The board features all the women’s looks for fall. No
mere coincidence there: The overwhelming majority of Pinterest’s 70 million
users are women. We’ve seen Nordstrom integrate the social scrapbooking site in
a novel way, but this is the first time a brand has debuted a full catalog on
Pinterest. As fashion magazines release
their biggest September print issues to date, J. Crew’s Pinterest strategy
leads the retailer’s oncoming digital marketing sprint, which includes a Style
Guide campaign on Instagram, as well as a new online video series.