The Impact of Social Media on Fashion
In the midst of the current quarantine, we begin to question the meaning of fashion. How can we express ourselves if we are not able to leave the house? Despite the current situation, expression through fashion is still ongoing through social media. In this article, I discuss what social media means in the world of fashion today:
A source of inspiration, from person to person
In fashion, there is a constant thirst for inspiration. Before social media, magazines, books, and catalogs quenched this thirst. With social media, inspirations don’t just include professional photoshoots and lookbooks. They now include "normal" people, willing to share their clothes online. With this new system, people are appreciated for their personal taste through a new and interesting environment that has been created for fashion.
A new market for clothes
Social media has become a platform to sell and buy clothing, and stores with a great selection are now able to operate as functioning businesses. My favorite stores are curated vintage stores on Instagram, which showcase clothes from the past. By selling, presenting, and providing information about the clothes that were made years ago, these stores provide a refreshing narrative of what fashion used to be, and how they can be incorporated even at this moment in time.
Curation, Curation, Curation
Like anything, fashion has a long history. Within social media, there has been a trend of documenting and archiving this history by creating mood boards and curating images. Many of these accounts are active on instagram, each of them providing a fresh perspective on a certain theme or brand. Some of my most frequented accounts include:
@organiclab.zip: nature, along with outdoor clothing.
@aestheticterrorist: Archive of Walter Van Beirendonck
@margielatab1: the iconic Tabi silhouette by Maison Margiela
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@oldceline: old Celine by Phoebe Philo
@newbottega: the new Bottega Veneta created by Daniel Lee.
@yourfashionarchive: images of past magazines, editorials, styling
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A platform for designers to share the story for their product
Social media has an extremely wide reach. Brands and designers exploit this by making their own social media accounts as a distinct, unique platform to promote and share their products. Many large fashion houses use their Instagram accounts to promote their latest lookbooks, runways, and campaigns. However, social media can be more than large brands sharing their visual images for their product. For instance, smaller designers are now able to share the narrative or backstory of their clothes directly to consumers through social media.
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Designer Kiko Kostadinov (@kikokostadinov) often posts behind-the-scenes shots, his daily life, and glimpses of his own personal collection of clothing on his instagram account. Through looking at his life as a creator, his work is more approachable. Another example is designer Takahiro Miyashita (@tkhrthesoloistmyst), creator of number nine and the Soloist, who uses his personal instagram account to share his most significant source of inspiration, music. Through looking at social media, we may gain a better understanding of what the clothes actually mean in the context of his personal taste in music. Other designers with interesting stories include:
- Errolson Hugh @erlsn.acr: founder/designer of ACRONYM, technical wear
- Michele Lamy @lalamichmich: Daily life of Michele Lamy and her husband Rick Owens (Designer)
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With this new age of fashion on social media, a quarantine is not stopping us from being inspired!
FAST Blogger
Jaden Kim