For Retrofête, there was a lot riding on the Fall 2024 collection. Known for its glamorous party girl dresses, the New York-based fashion label wanted to show a new side to its identity: office wear.
“This was a really important show for us and our brand, because I think it was kind of a reintroduction to who we are,” said Monica Grueninger, associate art director at Retrofête. “We’re evolving. And this was a moment for us to show that the Retrofête girl is layered. She’s not just a party girl. She is someone who takes her life seriously, takes her job seriously.”
The brand’s Fall 2024 runway show displayed that new look with power suits, chunky knits, and pinstripes inspired by iconic films like “Basic Instinct.” But just as important to communicating that to its audience was the accompanying Instagram campaign. Titled “The Duality of the Working Woman,” Retrofête’s Fall 2024 lifestyle campaign won the Best Use of Instagram at the 2025 Glossy Pop Awards for its success in using the platform to communicate its evolving vision to its customer base.
Key to the campaign was bridging glamour with reality. Grueninger said the team took to the streets of New York to shoot the campaign and stumbled upon a taxi driver who offered his cab as part of the shoot. The encounter proved serendipitous for providing a narrative to the campaign. “That’s kind of when it clicked. We were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we are going to tell the story of how she’s moving throughout her day,’” said Grueninger.
The resulting images and videos featuring model Daphne Groeneveld connected with Retrofête’s 600,000-plus followers, both on and off Instagram. The campaign garnered more than 335,000 views and over 1,000 saves. The brand also saw a 30% boost in gross e-commerce sales compared to the same period in 2023.
For a young brand — Retrofête was founded in 2018 and is stocked at the likes of Revolve and Bergdorf Goodman — social media has been crucial to not just building a customer base, but also taking fans along its journey. Grueninger said the success of the Fall 2024 campaign has taught the brand to take those creative moments as they come.
“We have been able to cultivate not [just] a following, but also a bond with our followers, which is very rewarding,” said Grueninger. “I think Instagram has served as a way for us to break that glass wall between us and our consumers, which is the most important thing at the end of the day.”
