Karl Lagerfeld and Woolmark: ‘Knit Karl’ Merino wool promotion achieves spectacular participation

777 Knit Karl boxes were available to be won by knitters and fashionistas across the world. The boxes included eight skeins of Australian Merino yarn, knitting needles, badges and a Karl Lagerfeld pattern. The knitting yarn is made from 100% Australian Merino wool spun at Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia in Italy.

Sharing a history dating back to 1954, KARL LAGERFELD and The Woolmark Company earlier this year launched a competition in which the prize was one of 777 limited-edition ‘Knit Karl’ boxes that included Australian Merino yarn for winners to create one of four exclusive designs.

The renowned fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and his namesake brand both share a longstanding relationship with The Woolmark Company. The late designer first rose to fame after he won the 1954 Woolmark Prize in the coat category. Then just 21 years old, the win launched the start of his extraordinary career that would change the face of fashion.

In 2018, the idea of a collaboration with The Woolmark Company was born and together the two companies developed the Knit Karl promotion, which resulted in a very effective campaign run earlier this year. Furthermore, beginning with the Autumn 2020 collection, all KARL LAGERFELD knitwear will be made using Woolmark-certified premium wool.

“The Knit Karl campaign has very successfully raised awareness of the premium qualities of Australian Merino wool amongst an audience of knitters and fashion-forward consumers,” said AWI Regional Manager Western Europe, Damien Pommeret.

“The campaign highlighted that Merino wool knitting yarn can be transformed into very fashionable garments. The Woolmark brand also gained great exposure.”

Knitting patterns were a key element of the competition’s prize. Winners can create one of the four unisex designs imagined by Karl Lagerfeld: a jumper, scarf, cap or headband.

The KARL LARGERFELD brand was a key partner in the initiative. The brand promoted Knit Karl on its website, social media and in its stores. Pictured is a post on its Facebook site that portrayed one of the unique codes with a bale of Australian Merino wool.

158 fashion influencers from 21 countries were engaged to upload Knit Karl promotional images to their large fan-bases on social media. Pictured is American socialite Olivia Palermo (who has 6.4 million followers on Instagram) wearing the Knit Karl jumper and scarf.

Vogue was the media partner for the initiative in several countries. Vogue posted content about Knit Karl on its website (pictured) and social media and print edition.

Winners of the Knit Karl box posted photos of their winning boxes on social media, continuing the visibility of the initiative long after the closing date of the competition.

‘KNIT KARL’ COMPETITION

Knitters and followers-of-fashion from 181 countries across the world took part in the Knit Karl digital scavenger hunt, searching for unique codes for the chance to win a limited edition Knit Karl box.

Each Knit Karl box contained all the elements, including skeins of Australian Merino wool, to craft one of four KARL LAGERFLD designs specially created for the unique project — a jumper, scarf, cap or headband – each showcasing the softness and beauty of Merino wool.

There were 777 knit boxes created – an ode to the iconic designer’s favourite number. The competition ran from 7 February until 7 March, with the winners announced on 7 April. In China, the competition ran 2–31 March.

Designed for the digital-native generation, the competition involved searching for exclusive codes, to be entered by competition entrants at the special website KnitKarl.com. The codes had been hidden online in the websites, press and social media posts of The Woolmark Company and the KARL LAGERFELD brand and the competition video.

Codes were also hidden offline in ‘street marketing’ (eg posters, stickers, projections, pavement stencils, window displays) in cities across the world, in-store at KARL LAGERFELD’s European stores, at events and in the press.

MERINO PROMOTION A GREAT SUCCESS

The initiative certainly proved popular and created a real buzz, especially amongst a very engaged knitting community. Nearly a million games were played by the competition entrants and the KnitKarl.com website received 7.6 million page-views.

Traffic to the competition’s KnitKarl.com website was powered by a strong social campaign, with 47% of traffic to the website coming from social media (Facebook and Instagram). 158 key fashion influencers from 21 countries were engaged to post on social media about the initiative and 360 other micro-influencers created content on social media. The peaks in traffic to the website were mostly generated in response to posts by the fashion influencers.

There was a dedicated homepage banner and a landing page on the KARL LAGERFLD brand’s Karl.com website during the competition period, as well as on The Woolmark Company’s Woolmark.com, both of which together contributed to traffic to the KnitKarl.com website.

E-communications advertising the promotion were emailed to The Woolmark Company’s database, reaching 136,000 people. The campaign also resulted in 29,000 new subscriptions to the database.

“Knit Karl was certainly the best tribute that could be made to Karl Lagerfeld.”
- Vogue

The media partner was Vogue. However, other top fashion magazines such as Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Grazia, ELLE, GQ and Harper’s Bazaar also shared a code and wrote about Knit Karl project in their media.

More information: www.knitkarl.com

This article appeared in the September 2020 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged, however prior permission must be obtained from the Editor.