This study aims to assess the effectiveness of backstage storytelling in luxury brands’ social media communication and examine a psychological mechanism that elucidates how luxury brands’ backstage storytelling influences consumers’ attitudinal and relational outcomes. The theory of narrative transportation (Escalas, 2004) was employed as a theoretical lens. Focusing on the effects of visual storytelling in a social media platform, this study proposed that photos of a luxury brand’s backstage images offer a greater level of narrativity than staged images of products and models. Additionally, this study proposed VIP emotions and perceived intimacy as mediators between transportation to photo narrative and attitudes toward the brand, brand evaluation and self-brand connection. In addition, the effectiveness of social media for luxury brands’ visual storytelling was tested by testing the role of telepresence in viewers’ information processing. This study selects Instagram, a visual-oriented social media platform, as the study context; Chanel, a luxury fashion brand, was selected to develop the study stimuli. Two Instagram accounts for Chanel were created as study stimuli through a pre-test: one account with frontstage brand photos and one account with backstage brand photos. Students from two universities in the Southeast and Midwest were recruited and randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions, frontstage (n=118) or backstage (n=134) Chanel Instagram account. Manipulation checks confirmed that respondents perceived the experimental conditions as intended. Our results revealed that viewers in the backstage condition experienced higher levels of transportation than those in the frontstage condition; VIP emotions and perceived intimacy mediate the relationship between transportation and attitudes towards a brand’s Instagram, brand evaluations, and self-brand connection. Additionally, ANCOVA results confirmed the interaction effects of telepresence on transportation is significant only in the backstage condition. Findings from this study shed light on the effectiveness of luxury fashion brands’ visual storytelling in social media communication.

The aim of this paper is to examine relationship characteristics and the relevance there of in the context of the Chanel collection, between the contemporary fashion show viewed from the artistic side and intermedia on interaction. This study analyzed the relationship characteristics between intermedia and fashion shows by focusing on Chanel fashion shows from 2010 S/S to 2016 F/W as actual case. The results are as follow: First, participational accessibility indicates the experience of a designer and audience in active participation changing into passive participation. Second, audience immersion is represented by the perception of being involved by the audience in the place and acting. Third, conceptual symbolism is sending of messages through the designer’s abstract concept manifesting in the specific features of the design. Finally, expandability of media explains trans-boundaries in experimental attempts. It concludes that fashion show is a space where the audience can have visual as well as new knowledge and experience through multi-sensory channels. The Chanel collection which is considered a huge art project at the fashion show, showed a relationship between philosophy and the direction through season concepts and brands. The Chanel collection has brought a new experience through the convergence of communications and cultural media, such as music and art according to traditional brand image.

Art Deco, a style of luxury, opulence and modernity in the 20th century, was popular from 1909 to 1930s.The definition of Art Deco tends to be either over simplistic or bafflingly complex (Hillier &Escritt, 1997) because Art Deco covers such a wide range of design.Consequently, it creates some confusion in regard to the history of art, industrial design and fashion because this era was a transition period between handcraft-work and machine-work. Therefore, this study examines a complex definition of Art Deco by comparing the differences of Art Deco style that were shown in Chanel designs which reflected the suitable imagery of machine age and Paul Poiret designs which had both modern imagery and simplified traditional ornamental characteristics. Chanel designs have been regarded as a representative sample of modernism fashion(De La Haye & Tobin, 1994). However, Chanel applied the principles of Art Deco style as well as modernism because the golden age of Art Deco overlapped with modernism. Yet, Chanel designs have never been studied from the view point of Art Deco style. Meanwhile, Paul Poiret was well known as the first designer who translated the spirit of the modern times into revolutionary garments. His interest in the simplicity of traditional garments led him to establish the foundation of Art Deco fashion(Lussier, 2003). This study was conducted by a review of the literature. Theoretical studies about the historical background of Art Deco period, characteristics of Art Deco fashion and Poiret & Chanel design analysis were preceded. Art Deco was influenced by various factors such as Orientalism, Ballets Russes, Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism Constructivism, Purism, Bauhaus and De Stijl(Robinson & Ormiston, 2008). The characteristics of Art Decostyle can be summarized as simplified shapes &silhouettes, bold, strong& practical colours, motives and patterns of simplified forms of nature& geometric forms, various details& trimmings, and flashy& artificial jewelries(Cho & Park, 1991; Klein, McClelland, & Haslam, 1986; Lussier, 2003). In this study, the differences in Poiret and Chanel designs were examined by five elements; silhouette, colour, pattern & motif, decoration and jewelry. The results were as follows: 1. Differences in silhouette: narrow-long shapes with high waists and streamline silhouettes by hobble skirts were mostly shown in Poiret designs while straight box and tubular silhouettes with law waists were mostly used in Chanel designs. 2. Differences in colour: strong& rich colours, glittering metallic colours and sharp colour contrast were shown frequently in Poiret designs, while black and neutral colours such as brown, beige were often used in Chanel designs. Poiret’s clothings introduced a riot of bold colours into fashion and Chanel made the black as a popular working outfit colour. 3. Differences in pattern & motif: simplified motives and patterns adapted from nature were used more than geometric patterns in Poiret designs while geometric patterns made with various lines and shapes were mostly used in Chanel designs. 4. Differences in decoration: Poiret still used various details and trimmings such as decorating gems, furs, tassels, flounces, frill, drapes, beads and embroidery which made costumes luxurious and exclusive. However, Chanel tried not to use any decorations which are at risk for transforming straight silhouette to curvy silhouette, but she decorated surface of the clothing by tucks, pleats, beads, fringes, embroideries, frills, pockets and ribbons of various sizes. 5. Differences in jewelries: precious genuine jewelries and were used to make Poiret's garments look more gorgeous, while Chanel created artificial jewelry to decorate simple and straight clothing. The results of this study show that significant differences can be made by adapting different design elements under the same style. Both Chanel and Poiret applied principles of Art Deco style but they created quite different fashion designs because one tried more of modernistic approach and the other still made frequent use of traditional decorative characteristics.

The orientalism in fashion is believed to develop from the eclectic notion of oriental and occidental fashion. By studying on Gabrielle Chanel’s clothing that is usually used by neutral colors and on Yohji Yamamoto’s clothing that characterizes clothes in neutral colors, the purpose of this study is to seek ways for remaking Korean traditional clothing into a new modern one to gain a world reputation in terms of clothes. Therefore the study is for exploring the characteristics on the factors of fashion design such as color, line and textile materials with works of Gabrielle Chanel, a famous designer in Western world who has made a black color a popular one for people and works of Yohji Yamamoto, an well-known fashion designer of the East using neutral colors. This study analyzed, from the 2004 S/S to the 2006 F/W, the collection of works published in style.com through the works of Gabrielle Chanel, Yohji Yamamoto, and through the analysis of the visual target. A total of 527 images are used in this paper. Elements of fashion design analysis are lines, colors, and materials. The study reached the conclusion as follows after analyzing the characteristics on clothing with neutral colors of Gabrielle Chanel and Yohji Yamamoto. In case of aesthetic characteristics on the design of Gabrielle Channel, it has expression of feminist, sensual, modern and luxury. It is considered that Gabrielle Channel has a luxury image using a neutral color. Also using simple sleeveless in black and tweed structure, the garments have mixed with neutral colors. Fashion design characteristics on the design of Yohji Yamamoto classified into sensual, modern, ascetic expression. Therefore the design has a simple expression of using a black color. Yohji Yamamoto is a designer who pursues unstructured design by using various neutral colors such as black, gray and white based on the oriental sentiment.