To achieve this, every four to six weeks, the entire store will undergo a complete theme-driven reinvention. To tell this month’s “love” story (which runs through March 12), Shechtman enlisted the help of strategic partner Architizer on the decor side and relied on her own seasoned eye to assemble the impressive 500+ item merchandise edit, which includes everything from VPL lingerie and Vosges chocolates to Baron Wells for Mens fragrance and Lafco candles.

In addition to the store itself, STORY will also build its brand by hosting events that celebrate the current theme–outreach that helps Shechtman foster new business relationships and strengthen ties with her community. For its first collaboration, STORY has teamed up with online dating service Nerve, a partnership the site’s CEO Sean Mills calls “a great opportunity to give [us] a physical presence for the first time.”

Marrying the charm of an independent shop with the luxury of a well-curated specialty store, STORY is a little like your favorite magazine meets your favorite social gatherings. With its fresh content, cross-platform theme reinforcement, and anticipation of what’s to come next (Shechtman is mum on that front, by the way), the STORY experience is truly a New York original.

STORY is open now and located at 144 10th Avenue (at 19th Street) in New York City.

Though the intended clientele of this new fashion house, dubbed Sorgere (a combination of two Italian and Chinese words), will be domestic Chinese businessmen, the construction and tailoring will all take place in Italy by the same company used by Dior Homme, Lanvin and other esteemed menswear lines. Adding to Sorgere’s cred, China Garments CEO Zhan Yingjie has lured industry veterans Francesco Fiordelli (Ungaro, Hugo Boss) and Raffaele Caruso (Raffaele Caruso Spa) to serve as fashion director and made-to-measure tailor, respectively.

The major difference between a Sorgere suit and one from a more established luxury label is price. Zhan knows convincing China’s ruling class to trade their high status Milanese and Savile Row suits for a Chinese newcomer won’t be easy, so he’s pricing the entire collection 20 percent lower than the average $2,400 custom-made Zegna.

Sorgere gets its runway reveal in Beijing next month at a private fashion show. No word yet on whether PLA soldiers will serve as models.

(photo via Reuters)

On Facebook, there’s a virtual “love bucket“, from which you can select a tip or bit of romantic wisdom from a Four Seasons staff member. While you’re there, share where you’d spend your ideal Valentine’s Day and be entered to win a $2,500 gift card good at any one of the Four Seasons’ nearly 90 international properties. There’s also a #FSlovebucket hashtag, which continues the conversation on Twitter and Instagram. The Four Seasons Magazine also has a sweet treat in the form of elaborate date and gift ideas on its ’14 Days of Love’ virtual calendar.

As interactive and creative as this Valentine’s Day campaign is, the last-minute, light in the wallet type should expect to look, not so much touch. A trip to Mount Otemanu in Bora Bora to listen to a ukelele trio on the beach, after all, takes some serious planning.

(photos via Four Seasons)

Also on Twitter, the Kors team will partner with Marie Claire and Neiman Marcus to co-host a live chat series, the first installment of which begins today, February 6. Over the next two weeks, in the build-up to V Day, the brand will market the campaign with ’10 Things Worth Falling in Love With’ emails.  The photos featured in each of these messages will also be accessible via the Michael Kors Instagram feed.

Although just launched, this new initiative has already garnered major online buzz for the American design house; over the last week, the Michael Kors Facebook page alone saw a spike in fan growth, adding approximately 3,000 new fans per day.

If only all Valentine’s Day efforts were this successful…

Twitter’s reasoning behind these enhanced profiles was to give brands an opportunity to highlight their most important content and directly engage fans. Because pinned tweets have the ability to expand and display embedded photos or videos (as Burberry did in the above screenshot), many  prestige brands, in particular, can now include larger, dynamic visuals at the top of the screen. But the value-added doesn’t end there. Brands should consider leveraging seasonal campaigns, incentives, partnerships, and other engaging content (i.e., not just a 140-character post) to attract users’ attention and convert them to loyal followers.

As of yesterday, enhanced profiles have been extended to just 21 brands and organizations, some of which include Volkswagen, Nike, NBC News and Al Jazeera. Twitter is expected to roll out more, including those for individuals, over the course of 2012.

A recent article from Ad Age reported that, within the last year, major global brands like Puma and GE and even political figures like President Obama and Mayor Bloomberg have incorporated Instagram into their digital strategies. And while startups don’t officially partner with companies, there are roughly 200 brands, celebrities and organizations currently leveraging the platform’s reach.

Brands are using Instagram in a variety of ways. Denim mainstay Levi’s is currently looking to Instagram to find the face of their next campaign through encouraging users to tag their portraits with #iamlevis. Tiffany & Co.’s Instagram account highlights its recent advertising campaigns, holiday windows and craftsmanship. Even brands without an official account still find ways to take advantage of the channel. Clothing line 7 For All Mankind, for instance, scours the platform for photos tagged #7FAM to blog about how people are wearing their products.

Specialty retailers are finding Instagram to be an especially engaging and cost-effective way to strengthen their online presence. Without spending a single dollar, companies can reach thousands of interested consumers to showcase products, promote events, and offer a porthole into daily work culture.

L2 found swift adoption of Instagram in both the Digital IQ Index®: Specialty Retail and Digital IQ Index®: European Specialty Retail, as more than a quarter of brands in each Index had active accounts. Notably, the US-centric Specialty Retail report found more than double the average number of brand followers than European specialty retailers.

As Instagram gains even more momentum, brands should explore ways to maximize the ROI of integrating Instagram into their current marketing mix. Whether using it as an independent marketing vehicle to increase brand awareness or as a part of a larger social media effort, Instagram’s visually-inviting platform and intimate user experience will help smaller brands, in particular, punch above their weight class.

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been in 2012 prediction mode on the L2 blog. We’ve discussed the increasingly important and lucrative roles  mobile commerce and emerging social media darlings Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram will take on in the year ahead (and by contrast, the death knell of another much-hyped, underwhelming platform). We touted digital as the new pathway for prestige brands to achieve icon status. And because it wouldn’t be a prediction list without a prominent China mention, we also offered a perspective on how the world’s fastest-growing luxury consumer base will drive e-commerce not just in 2012 but for the foreseeable future.

In the video above, we invite you to take a closer look at L2’s five boldest predictions for 2012.

From fashion and beauty to jewelry and automobiles, Chinese with money are bucking the country’s long-held tradition of saving (60 percent of households there do so, compared with just 35 percent in the U.S.) in favor of buying. This is especially true when the purchases in question project status, wealth, and a Westernized taste.

Recognizing the billions in revenue potential, many luxury brands have expanded into China by way of new retail stores. This would be a relatively effective business strategy if, like New York City, Paris and London, citizens regularly left home and flocked to major cities for work, shopping or vacation stays. In China, though last year marked the first time in the country’s history that more people lived in urban centers than in rural towns, there are many more millionaires and billionaires who want the new Chanel fur winter boot who won’t make it to Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou—the only four cities with Chanel boutiques—before they’re out of season.

Enter e-commerce.

We believe that the prestige brands that will win this market will be those that invest in robust e-commerce sites, outfitted with Chinese language capability and easy to navigate shipping options. Not only will people living in smaller cities and towns (where 75 percent of China’s future wealth creation is expected to take place) be able to buy their big-ticket items, but even more big-city luxury connoisseurs will take advantage—and more often. When unburdened by store hours and bad Beijing traffic, shoppers are likely to be happier, more impulsive and ultimately, spendier.

Recent data from the Boston Consulting Group, which looked at online sales as a percentage of overall retail sales in the Skincare and Cosmetics industry, underscores e-commerce’s tremendous opportunity in the region. In 2005, online sales of domestic Chinese skincare and cosmetics brands accounted for just 2 percent of overall sales. In 2010, after implementing aggressive and innovative e-commerce strategies, this number jumped to 11 percent, a growth spike that outpaced even the most mature markets in the U.S. and the U.K.

(Image via Forbes)