Social Media Lends a Hand to Fashion

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We, as social media users forget that before Twitter/ Instagram/Facebook etc, were invented, certain topics were not as widely discussed as they are now… for example less young people were interested in politics, and access to the latest fashion trends/runways wasn’t possible without a ticket. We forget that more than 40% of millennials purchase online, and 20% * discover trends via social media. Fashion Week has just reached the end of the runway, and it is extremely relevant to reflect back on what social media has been able to successfully achieve with the subject in question, of fashion.

In my previous blog, I talked about how digital marketing can impact and influence fashion brands. In this blog I will discuss how Fashion Week has left its mark on social media, and how designers can use social media to generate popularity and fame.

Jetting over to LONDON FASHION WEEK (with the Queen)

London Fashion Week has gone down in history.  

There were two Queens who sat in the FROW (front row). The Queen of England sat front row with the Queen of fashion herself, Vogue’s editor in chief Anna Wintour. This set the internet and fashionistas wild! They sat front row at the Richard Quinn catwalk, who The Queen later awarded with Best British Designer.

The digital effect the Queen had on social media was astonishing. No one knew that the Queen was going to London Fashion week, it was a complete surprise to everyone in the room. Paparazzi did what they did best and shared the moment as soon as possible to let the internet world know a Royal has made it to LFW! The response was widely positive with users writing all over Twitter how happy they were to see a royal style icon! One user wrote  ‘The Queen went to #LFW and sat in the front row next to Anna Wintour. 91 and still keeping it classy. Give the girl a gin for being a trooper.’

 

fashion week The Queen of England Anna Wintour Front row of Richard Quinn

credit: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images

 

It has been reported that London Fashion Week is commonly overlooked by its much bigger siblings, New York and Milan – but this year the Queen has made LFW 2018, go down in history.  Looking at the Royal Family Instagram page, the average amount of likes they were receiving on a post was around the 30K mark.  The amount of likes the post of the Queen at LFW received 87K likes, and 1,300 comments, over double the amount of interactions and that’s just Instagram…

MILAN created the GUCCI Challenge

Gucci put the audience in a small operating theatre, which gave a clinical vibe, but this wasn’t the weirdest part… The models were holding a replica of their heads! This then led to the hilarious ‘Gucci challenge’. Gucci may be the meme-ist fashion house around. But the latest Gucci memes have flooded Instagram with the #guccichallenge, using the hashtag over 1555 times .

There were mixed opinions about this, which were shared in W Magazine: ‘Giorgio Armani’ sidestepped calling out Gucci by name, but did register his disapproval of such meme-worthy runway stunts as severed heads. “No, I don’t want to be a part of this,” he told the site. “Fashion can’t be a means to have the media talk about you. We have to move and excite but without going overboard — it’s too easy. I have never wanted to trick consumers, and what I show on the runway is what customers can find in stores.”  Armani had a different approach to creating fashion to shock and make viral… He sees as a bit of a cop out, whilst others think it is insanely clever to use the internet as a way to popularise brands.

 

model instagram gucci head challenge

Credits: Getty/images

In summary:

Social media is one of the best ways to reach a targeted audience, and it is really interesting to see how social media has become such a large part of Fashion Week, as originally it was for the middle and upper class. Social media has helped more people take notice of what is going on in the fashion industry, which is especially important when designers such as Tom Ford are discussing topics which are hugely relevant for the younger generation.

 

 

*statistics can be found on L2inc.com

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