The democratisation of fashion has made everyone an expert. Bloggers such as BryanBoy and Tavi are becoming more influential than editors. Much has been written about the new upstarts upstaging the old guards of the industry. Whispers of mutiny in Milan and corruption in New York set the fashion press a buzz this past show season. And who can blame them? If one were an industry veteran with thirty years experience and one is seated behind a teenage twitterer at a Chanel show one would be terribly incensed.
What you can’t be mad at is the voracious appetite for fashion the masses now have. Bloggers are quenching the publics thirst for everything in vogue. PR maestro and all around power player Kelly Cutrone offers her two cents on the shift in power “The thing that’s exciting right now is that the keepers of the gate are being knocked over the head with the new social media, and their opinion is less important”. Consumer demands means bloggers who operate in real time will always have the edge over journalists and editors whose considered opinions will be voiced in print later. New Media + Globalisation = the consumer is in control.
Nowhere is the consumer power wielded with such desirable results than in the online stores. The new supermarkets of style offer every conceivable look your heart desires all year round. In these shopper led havens there are no seasons. No over riding trends. And definitely no rules for shopping. Gone are the days of procuring for a cold or hot spell. Online the shopper can buy bikinis in November, ski pants in July and straw boaters in January. This demand for seasonless dressing is a direct result of our increasingly global lifestyles in which we travel casually and sometimes frenetically. We need a retailer who can provide for our needs all year round.
The ever media savvy Diane Von Furstenberg has recognised her customers needs and has adapted. For SpringSummer’10 she showed a collection inclusive of wide leg trousers, capris and harem pants alongside miniskirts, baggy jumpsuits and knee length dresses. No wonder she agreed to be on the City- she’s a marketing goddess.
D&G have also adapted to the new consumer. For the past four seasons they have reinvented their sister line to coerce the global market. Satisfying shoppers is now more important to designers than fulfilling their own aesthetic agenda. Last seasons velvet ladylike luxe is transformed into the wild west woman of SS’10 to satisfy the new stylised market. Fast trends for the fast consumer.
Could it be that fashion is the only industry where the consumer wins the war on the recession? The ones spending the money wield the power. We are proclaiming trends rather than following them. Commanding the previously secret world of industry and electing new creative forces to the forefront of the fash pack (in exchange for behind the scenes tweets of course). Fashion is finally firmly in the shoppers hands. Praise your gods, and pray it lasts.
