Fashion Shows in the Digital Age - Essay Example

Relevance of Fashion shows in the Digital Age Relevance of Fashion shows in the Digital Age Fashion shows are live events aimed at displaying the designs and new clothes in the market by designers aimed at advertising the designs and bringing knowledge to the audience of the new designs. Fashion shows are held during Fashion week notable in New York, Milan, Paris, London and other locations. The advent of the digital age has affected the fashion show immensely forming the aim of this paper to understand the relevance of the fashion shows in the digital age. Fashion show relevance in the digital age The digital age has necessitated a change in fashion shows through presenting an easier way through which a designer can present his/her designs without having to spend millions on fashion shows. Martin Raymond believes that the role of the fashion shows currently is a “spectacle, and a social media push” (Harris, January 8, 2014). The main purposes of the fashion shows according to Angela Ahrendhs is entertainment and prefers spending on a film and sending it to the audience rather than on a fashion show, depicting the death of fashion shows (Harris, January 8, 2014). Fashion shows are relevant in the digital age through providing an opportunity for designers to display new designers incorporating modern digital age developments in the designs including graphics squares, digital print, and smart cuts. The fashion show can provides an opportunity for designers to display their ability to merge creativity in fashion design and digital edge fashion capabilities allowing for fashion show and digital age to coexist beautifully (Menkes, September 07, 2014). According to Fitzgerald, designers engaged digitally are two to four times better in accessing market and other activities than those who are not (Cartner-morley, September 12, 2014). There are mutual advantages in a partnership between fashion shows and digital world through social media and other digital communication channels opening opportunities for small and upcoming designers as well as established designers. Use of instagram, social media, blogs, live stream of the fashion shows introduction of tweetwalk by Burberry allows fashion shows to use digital media to extend their relevance and increase access to new audience in an instant (Binkley, January 24, 2013). The relevance of the fashion shows in the digital age is high owing to the inability of the digital communication instruments to transmit all minute details and inspiration for the development of fashion and new designs in the future. Fashion show is still relevant, and fusion with digital communication instruments will make fashion shows better and more relevant to digital audience augmenting profitability and developing trends (Bamford, November 16, 2012). Sociological fashion theories explaining social appearance Symbolic Interaction theory emphasizes the need for interaction between the people in the community and has two premises. These are the definition of the self through interaction and development of the society through coordinated interactions. Coordinated interactions are aided by dressing allowing one to have a sense of other people from their dressing and have led to the development of appearance as the basis for social interaction. Class theories include Trickle Across, Trickle Down, and Trickle up theories depicting movement of fashion horizontally within same social class, down from upper to lower social class, and up from lower to upper social class respectively. Fashion systems model mainly aim at ensuring conformity with designers providing innovative and modifications that are meant for use by all people. This explains the need to have certain styles and appear similar to others in the society (Delong, 2010). The populist model characterizes of polycentric with appearance determined based on socioeconomic status, age, culture, location for the creation of a unique fashion. The appearance is aimed at conformity by those within the same group having similar characteristics is and aimed at expressing personal freedom and individuality (Kim et al., 2011: 15). These sociological fashion theories show the importance of appearance to individuals as they portray a sense of identity. Clothing and appearance has a close relation to identity (Barnard, 2014: 4). Sustainability of the fashion shows in the digital age The fashion show is no longer sustainable in terms of the time, effort, cost, convenience, and benefits to both the designer and the audience. The reasons for this assertion are the availability of digital channels through which the designers can achieve better results at a lower cost. Use of instagram, Youtube video, social media including Facebook and Twitter, through their websites, and other digital-age communication, the designers can reach a larger audience at a percentage of the cost of a fashion show. There has been an increase in the use of digital communication by the audience rather than physical location showing that using digital communication is far much beneficial than fashion shows depicting the lack of sustainability of the fashion shows in future. The rise in the costs of hosting a fashion show from $ 20,000 to $ 100,000 makes fashion shows a preserve for the large companies including Channel and Louis Vuittons (Menkes, May 17, 2010). Small designers have the option to use digital communication at lower costs and derive more benefits and competitive advantage showing the non-sustainability of the fashion shows. The other reason for the non-sustainability of the fashion shows is in the reason for their use, which is advertising, and increasing awareness. These purposes have been replaced by websites, social media, Instagram and Youtube leaving no rational for use of fashion shows depicting non-sustainability. However, there is a thin line for the sustainability of the fashion shows for the emergence of a new reason for them being staged. The reason is that fashion shows offer an opportunity for fashion designers, editors, customers and other members of the audience to interact, share ideas, look at fashion, and learn new trends among other benefits (Barnard, 2013: 43). This reason gives fashion shows the need for fashion shows despite their main role having been overtaken by technological development and instant global communication. The other reason showing the sustainability of the fashion shows is the need to capture the mood, conversation, and minute details that act as an inspiration for development of new fashion that can only be achieved in fashion shows and cannot be provided by digital age communication channels (Horyn, February 14, 2013). The sustainability of fashion shows is a reason for debate but a concluded fact is that the numbers attending fashions shows will definitely decrease with augmented preference for digital communication. Fashion industry is a global phenomenon owing to the spread of fashion from one part of the world to the farthest within a very short time. Operation of designers in the global scale also depicts the global phenomenon of the fashion industry. Fashion shows being staged in Milan, Paris, London, and New York in the same month and for the same reasons also depict the globalism of the fashion industry. The participants in the fashion industry come from global locations and showcase designs from all over the world, another factor depicting the fashion industry as global. Developments of fashion in the 20th and 21st century’s Contemporary trends: trend forecasting developed from trend books, audiovisual presentation and to web-based trend development as a basis for a new fashion. Web-based trend development has allowed for real-time trend analysis and better understanding for fashion designers. Democratization has allowed for blogging and other communication in new trends being passed to the audience (Laberge et al., 409). Cultural movements: difference movements have developed fashion including Punk Fashion developed by anti-fashion youth culture in 1970s that led to the emergence of torn trousers, patched clothes, ear piercing, Doc Martens footwear, and neck chains. Subcultural street styles including Afrocentric, Beatnick, Cribbean, Bhangra, Eco,CyberPunk, Preppy, and Rave among many other styles have also emerged over the years changing fashion in many different ways. Another movement is the Hippie Counter Culture Movement involved wearing of ragged, brightly colored clothes, sandals, beads, and jewels purchased from second-hand shops and flea markets. Innovation in textiles and materials: use of quick response in textile manufacturing, image editing software use ensuring digital printing reducing wastes and costs are some of the innovation in the textiles and materials in the fashion industry. References LABERGE, Y., CORRIGAN, P. BERRY, B. (2013). Appearance Stratification and Identity: Fashion as the Clearest Example of What Sociology is All About. Sociology, Vol 47, no 2, pp. 407-412. KIM, E., FIORE, A. M., & KIM, H. (2011). Fashion trends: analysis and forecasting. BARNARD, M. (2014). Fashion theory. An introduction. Andover, Routledge Ltd. BARNARD, M. (2013). Fashion as Communication. Hoboken, Taylor and Francis. MENKES, S. (May 17, 2010). Fashion Films Become the Hottest New Accessories. The New York Times. Retrieved on November 25, 2014 from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/fashion/18iht- fcurves.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1362061830- s/21WuQ9jETJXLyh1n5DbQ& BAMFORD, C. (November 16, 2012). Fashion of the Digital Age. Imagination. Retrieved on November 25, 2014 from http://www.imagination.com/en/labs/2012/11/fashion-digital- age BINKLEY, C. (January 24, 2013). Why some Labels will sidestep Fashion Week. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on November 25, 2014 from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324624404578258473406332016 ?mod=wsj_share_tweet&mg=reno64- wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB1000142412788732462440 4578258473406332016.html%3Fmod%3Dwsj_share_tweet HORYN, C. (February 14, 2013). You have to be there to fill it. The New York Times. 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