Fashion 2.0 | KCD’s Digital Fashion Shows to Open to Consumers.

The digital arm of public relations company KCD has announced that Digital Fashion Shows, the firm’s previously industry-only, streaming fashion show platform, will offer ‘front row’ access to members of the public, starting this season. During the upcoming New York collections, the platform will present the Alexander Plokhov, Peter Som and Pierre Balmain shows. Additional clients are set to launch during Paris Fashion Week which begins at the end of February.

Originally aimed at journalists and retail executives, Digital Fashion Shows, launched one year ago allowed invited guests to watch pre-taped runway shows and access detail shots of fabrics, prints and accessories, as well as behind the scenes video content, designer inspiration and other assets geared at industry professionals. “As the fashion industry has adapted to and embraced digital, so much focus has been placed on reaching the consumer. As a PR agency our work is focused on servicing the media,” KCD co-president Ed Filipowski told BoF when the platform first launched.

Now, in a significant shift in strategy, Digital Fashion Shows will allow KCD’s clients to directly engage end consumers with the type of immersive and sharable digital show experience that’s become a powerful marketing tool for megabrands like Louis Vuitton and Burberry.

“It became necessary to respond to our client’s request to open the platform’s doors wider for greater exposure,” said Rachna Shah, KCD Digital’s managing director. But the platform will still offer industry professionals the tools they need to efficiently view collections without adding to their overloaded fashion week schedules, she emphasised: “The site retains all of the innovative tools the press needs to review and cover the shows as featured when the platform was founded.”

For the moment, the enhanced Digital Fashion Shows remains under wraps. But bringing industry and consumer audiences together under the same roof opens up some very interesting and value-creating possibilities. First of all, the presence and participation of industry insiders, though virtual, could make the streaming show experience more authentic and engaging for end consumers. On the flipside, consumer participation could make Digital Fashion Shows a more powerful industry tool. For one, collecting and analysing likes, shares and comments relating to specific show pieces could enable retailers to gather direct insight on consumer preferences, before they place orders, and thereby make better decisions on what to stock.

Let’s hope that the new platform, when it’s unveiled in a couple of weeks, doesn’t silo industry professionals and consumers, but, instead, brings them together in ways that generate greater value for all parties.

Interracial Dating Decreases with Church Attendance (Except for One Denomination).

The notion of Sunday mornings being “the most-segregated hour in America” may be longstanding. But recent studies took this idea further and examined how those who attend church most often are least likely to ever have dated or married someone from another race.

Except for one Christian denomination.

In a recent blog post, David Briggs at the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) notes how researchers at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) found that “being in a church with few or no members of another race makes a difference in choosing romantic partners.”

Using data from the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey, Samuel Perry of the University of Chicago found that about 50 percent of those who attend church only once a year or never said they had dated a person of another race, whereas only 27 percent of those who attend church weekly or more said the same.

“Segregated churches breed segregated lives,” said Perry, according to Briggs. However, he also found that those who pray and read the Bible more often were more likely to date outside of their race. (Perry’s findings will appear in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.)

Meanwhile, another SSSR report from Joshua Tom and Brandon Martinez at Baylor University found that religious affiliation (whether Christian, non-Christian, or religiously unaffiliated) made no statistically significant difference in whether someone was in an interracial marriage—except for Catholics. They were twice as likely to be in such a marriage, especially if they attended services more frequently. The likely reason: the growing Hispanic population.

CBS Promises Realistic Reality Dating Show.

Did someone at CBS not get any Valentines?

The network announced a new reality dating show Wednesday — the day after Valentine’s Day — that will offer more reality than typical dating shows that thrive on hot-air balloon rides, champagne toasts, safaris on the backs of elepphants, and all that other fake-romantic crap. It’s called “3″ and will premiere this summer.

“’3′ is a relationship show that won’t perpetuate a fairy tale myth about dating,” said Jennifer Bresnan, executive vice president of alternative programming for CBS Entertainment. ”Without any typical game play, it intimately documents the search for love and the reality of dating — the anticipation, the excitement, the rejection. Along the way, we’ll see personalities who are real, and flawed and simply human.”

Right on, sister.

The show follows an original format by Keshet Broadcasting Ltd., based on a program originally produced by Kastina Productions that had Israel’s biggest new reality show launch in four years when it premiered there last summer.

“3″ is co-produced by Magical Elves, 1492 Television and Keshet Broadcasting. Jane Lipsitz, Dan Cutforth, Chris Columbus, Avi Nir and Ami Glam are the executive producers.

Single men and women can apply online at YanikaBrides.com. Please don’t apply if you have a secret significant other because “The Bachelor” kind of has that market cornered.