The fashion season is in full swing. Marc Jacobs ended New York Fashion Week 2016 with a psychedelic show featuring white models wearing colourful fake dreadlocks – and to match got here under fire. London Fashion Week is now starting. All of this appears to be following fashion's well-trodden trend, but the bottom beneath those glittery stilettos is definitely changing – and fast. Fashion weeks are less about fashion cliques and more about opening as much as the masses.
Fashion weeks was once an industry affair: During them, fashion labels presented their latest seasonal collections to potential buyers. There were a limited variety of cities in the style business: Paris, Milan, New York and London. Fashion magazine and newspaper journalists bridged the gap between industry and consumer by informing consumers about latest looks and trends and summarizing the ups and downs of the rich world.
Orders were taken and apparel deliveries arrived six months later, in time for the spring and fall seasons. Mainstream fashion brands and retailers also picked up the trends, which were reflected of their subsequent clothing ranges. This somewhat orderly calendar was determined by the speed of its physical processes, from order acceptance to distribution to retailers.
But all these dimensions have modified. Fashion weeks are evolving from an exclusive industry event to participatory consumer events.
Fast fashion
There at the moment are many more cities joining the international fashion scene, which implies latest fashion cities and inevitably fashion weeks are emerging, similar to: Saint Paul And Shanghai. Fashion Week catwalks are going down in an increasingly diverse range of locations, at pop-up events and at flagship locations.
Ministry of Culture/Flickr, CC BY
The front row of the runway has evolved to reflect the way in which this sense of high fashion is making its way into the general public eye. Not only personalities from the industry are accommodated here, but additionally celebrities and bloggers. Such bloggers have proliferated with the expansion of social media, which has also allowed for greater recycling of street fashion and created many more looks and styles. Lead times for delivery of finished clothing have also shortened, meaning products shown on the runway may be delivered to retailers or on to customers inside weeks.
Increasing consumer wealth and consumption was accompanied by growth in fashion retail. The digital revolution has empowered consumers whose expectations are very different from those of previous generations. They access fashion information and services, but additionally make online transactions wherever and at any time when they need. This ability to personalize will proceed as consumers select and follow their very own fashion leaders, designers, brands and street scenes from world wide on social media.
By mediating supply and demand, latest media and communication technologies have transformed each fashion and fashion weeks. “Fast fashion” now describes not only the rapid change in designs, clothing and ranges, but additionally newer and brisker looks, media commentary and visuals.
Sharing style
The Internet has modified each the way in which consumers watch fashion weeks and the way in which products are purchased. Web 4.0 opened up latest communication and shopping channels for brands, especially mobile, to construct a web-based and offline presence. Interactive software allows for the dissemination of fashion, the sharing of looks and styles, and the chance for style mashups. New types of hardware and more powerful software in smartphones, tablets, apps and social media offer the chance to interact and interact with fashion brands anytime, anywhere.
These developments have led to a rapid convergence of the physical and digital fashion worlds. The sanctity of time and space in fashion is shrinking as consumer power and selection increases.
The primacy of the visual in fashion underlines the importance of the production and consumption of images. But skilled photographers, editors and bloggers now only make up a fraction of those that comment on fashion weeks. Social media makes sharing photos and videos easier, and smartphone users can live stream fashion shows using broadcast apps like periscope. Models pose for Instagram shots at the top of the runway and fashion houses share behind-the-scenes images and glimpses of their latest collections.
Global future
Looking to the long run, fashion weeks are sure to showcase the design influence of a really global fashion world, drawing inspiration from latest designers in Africa to the fast-moving markets of Asia. Cultural heritage, inspired by real or conceptualized pasts, will coexist with spontaneous and experimental style.
Fashion cities can have local, regional and international appeal, but will turn into less and fewer defined by the physical spaces of town itself. Fashion weeks may be relocated, supplemented or replaced by virtual or merged environments. The ability to contact these different locations is enabled by more powerful, smaller and more convenient personal smart devices.
New types of augmented and virtual reality will enable consumers to enjoy three-dimensional and immersive fashion experiences. This is made easier by latest versions of the online that allow for greater interactivity and sensory interaction.
Consumers can use on-site 3D printing to create what they experience at fashion week, but additionally reinterpret latest clothing and accessory designs for their very own looks. New materials and Smart textiles seem particularly promising and will play a more vital role in fashion design and the way in which clothing is conceived and presented. Hopefully sustainability may even have a say and have the potential to encourage latest shapes or alternative fashion weeks.
And fashion week itself may not even be secure. A distinct, more flexible time-frame tailored to the predatory online consumer is prone to excite us most in the long run.
image credit : theconversation.com