Fashion and Social Media: What's the Catch?

Technology has proved itself to be the most impactful and efficient strategic gateway to visual gratification. To satisfy all aspects of the fashion industry, social media has created different platforms through which endless users share their passions, interests, tips, ideas, and photos. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Wanelo, and Pinterest are a few of the 20^th century social media life changers.

            The fashion industry is known to change every season with new and innovative color palettes, patterns, influences, and inspirations; however, it is now through social media that true style is created. Fashionistas around the globe are now able to connect with other passionate fashion lovers through the sharing of photos, text, or blog posts and inform one another of the latest runway shows, glamorous events, or hot new releases of merchandise in stores. In the past, the latest updates of the fashion industry were released periodically through newspaper articles, magazine spreads, and word of mouth. Today, however, thanks to social media platforms, these updates can be shared instantaneously and globally. For example, the new season of Rachel Zoe premiered last night and the celebrity stylist/designer was tweeting live the thoughts on the episode about New York Fashion Week. Fashionistas around the US were going, as Zoe would say, "bananas" to the point that #RACHELZOE became a trend. 

            Students undertaking fashion studies, whether in business or creatively, have the fortune of knowing the upcoming trends almost two seasons of ahead. They are also trained to “catch” or “spot” the influences impacting upcoming themes and trends. To better suit their market, brands have immerged themselves in their consumers’ lives and connecting with them and building relationships. Brands are able to showcase their lifestyle through tweets, posts, and photos creating a relationship between the brand and social media users that leads to purchase intent or positive word of mouth. For free-lance designers, social media has also been a gateway for designers to “study” their customer and provide the best options for them. 

IS THERE ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT FASHION AND SOCIAL MEDIA? It's major.