When I heard Cindy Crawford and Kaia Gerber would be teaming up to host Zara's first-ever shopping broadcast on Sept. 25, I wasn't sure what to expect. Would it assume a QVC-esque, "show and tell" format where the hosts hold various products up to the camera and gush about how life-changing they are? Would it feel like a live recording of a mother and daughter going shopping together, heated arguments and all? Would the stream take place in a store, a closet, or a secret third place somewhere in the ether? And most importantly, would this new way of shopping—dubbed ZaraStreaming—even work?
Suffice it to say, I had my doubts as I sat before Zara's homepage, watching the countdown to the Wednesday afternoon stream tick closer to completion. When the show began, however, it quickly became clear that ZaraStreaming is not a true streaming platform in the Twitch sense of the word. It's a pre-recorded video broadcast with integrations for live chat and real-time shopping.
In case you missed it, the plot of the inaugural ZaraStreaming went a little something like this: Gerber and Crawford hop in the car and sing along to Chappell Roan's "Good Luck, Babe!" on their way to a Zara photo shoot. Upon arriving, they're greeted by French stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, who promptly begins dressing them in various looks crafted from a special drop of fall styles. As Gerber and Crawford try on various looks, the pieces used to create them appear on screen so they can be easily added to your cart. After cycling through a couple of looks, Cerf de Dudzeele sends the pair off to be photographed in the limited collection by David Lowery, who directed the stream in addition to starring in it.
The loosely scripted video is still available for playback if you're so inclined, and I might even venture to say that rewatchable version is the superior way to experience ZaraStreaming. After the broadcast ended, timestamps for each product were added so you can easily jump to the portion of the video where Gerber and Crawford were wearing it. While I found it hard to watch and actively shop at the same time, the platform made it easy to circle back and find the items I wanted to examine more closely. Like, for instance, this brown barn jacket with a fleece contrast collar and cow print belt Crawford briefly donned during the stream. Or the black tuxedo jacket and Chloé-esque platform wedge heels Gerber wore in the video's final frame.
ZaraStreaming may not be the most natural and intuitive way to shop, but for a moment, it did manage to make online shopping feel a little less stale and isolating. And for me, that's reason enough to stay tuned for their next attempt. Of course, it'll be hard to top Gerber and Crawford as the stream's supermodel hosts. Perhaps avid Zara patron Selena Gomez might consider taking over the gig?
