Within the last decade fashion media has transformed as society and technology has. Society and technology have become extremely connected, causing most industries to have to evolve into new areas like Instagram and TikTok to reach customers and stay relevant. The fashion industry has been no different. Those interested in fashion aren't anxiously waiting for the September issue of Vogue anymore. They're on Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, etc. seeking out fashion content and there's more to consume than ever before.
It's important to keep in mind that the fashion industry as we know it today is still relatively young. The majority of the well known luxury brands like Hermes, Gucci, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton have only been around for eighty to two hundred years. Before the major brands we know today shops were made up of individual seamstresses and tailors.
The first form of fashion media was in the seventeenth century and were actually dolls that the shops in Paris would dress to display new styles that could be made in sizes for women and men. These dolls would then be transported to different courts in Europe in hopes that clients would like what they saw and order something from the shops. The shops moved on from the dolls and eventually started to send out engraved plates which eventually became collectors pieces.
It then evolved into what everyone immediately thinks of when you think of fashion media. The fashion magazine. Think Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, etc. These publications are like the Bible to Catholics. The first magazine to incorporate fashion into it was Le Mercure Galant in 1672 in France, which Louis XIV utilized as a way to push his cultural agenda in France. From there magazines and print publications took off.
The business side of fashion has had to quickly evolve to change marketing tactics and reach customers in new ways. Originally major luxury fashion brands like Chanel or Louis Vuitton didn't focus any money or time on marketing, because they simply didn't have to. They had stores and ateliers in Paris where they would see regular clients or clients would make trips from all over the world to come shopping. With so many luxury fashion houses being located in Paris it quickly became the fashion capital of the world and the customers flocked to it. Throughout time they have had to evolve and figure out how to reach customers as there have been changes in the economy, society, consumer preferences, and tastes.
Within the last ten years we have seen social media explode and completely change the media landscape for every industry. Instagram and Facebook were both launched around 2010 and immediately took off. Moving into more recent years we've seen a massive shift towards video content. Youtube has become the place to go for longer form content like fashion shows, reviews, hauls, and other fashion focused content. The app TikTok, which is a video-sharing social network app that focuses on short-form content, has also blown up over the past three years. In addition to all of these there has also been a rise in the popularity of influencers, who are content creators with larger follower counts that promote products and brands.
The fashion industry is an interesting industry to examine further because fashion is ingrained into our everyday lives. Whether you are actively interested in fashion or not, you make decisions everyday that convey to the world who you are and what your beliefs are.
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