Role of Social Media in the Fashion Industry

Question 1

Social media is playing a crucial role in the fashion industry. Social media has created an interactive platform for the average consumers and regular people with fashion designers, exemplary clothing, shoes and accessory firms. Social media advertising attracts more views than traditional advertising platforms like television commercials, billboards ads, and magazine ads. Advertisements on social media are more accessible to customers as compared to conventional advertising platforms. This is due to the increased use of social media due to the advancement in technology. Social media platforms are accessible to people across the globe, and this has had a significant impact on how consumers interact with the fashion industry.

New channels of advertising have been developed by social media to help the fashion houses’ advertisement to reach as many targets as possible. These channels include; Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest to mention but a few. The main aim of marketing fashion is to ultimately attract and keep customers. Due to the rise of the social media era, fashion houses and to relook on their marketing strategies to attract customers. This is the point where they shifted from traditional print media to more interactive media. Social media incorporates various forms of media like videos, live streams, and interactive websites to ensure that they can interact effectively with their target market.

In 2009, the use of social media rose in promoting luxury fashion brands. Fashion brands were able to attract and build a last relationship with the customers by a push of a button. A few years before the 2009 people they believed that social media was damaging the fashion industry due to the negative comments that consumers could post on the products and designs which discouraged other customers. However, other people thought that despite the throwbacks, social media remains a powerful platform for fashion designers to advertise their products and designs since they can attract a wider audience.  When fashion media houses utilize the internet for advertisement, they can reach a diverse group of people since much fewer limitations face it compared to traditional advertisement modes. For instance, people can be able to view the products and designs posted by the fashion houses at the comfort of their and purchase these products without physically going to the shops. With this era of seeking economic prosperity, people are too busy to find time to do traditional shopping; thus, online shopping has become a thing. These advertisements are more accessible on the internet, unlike in the tradititional era where one had to go out and buy magazines to be able to view the same content. Word of mouth is one of the most influential modes of passing information. This can be achieved with social media where the fashion houses create videos and Livestream to give relevant information on the designs to their consumers.

Fashion houses use social media for advertising and connecting with their target market. Each social media platform has its use, and its outcome is different from other social media channels. Each channel has its role, which is determined by the functioning of the channel and the number of people and the group of people using that channel. Some of the different functions of various social media channels are to provide fashion news, update new styles and designs, providing customer services to the consumers and promoting the organization’s events and exhibitions. For instance, Facebook and Instagram are mostly used to promote fashion events and update in new styles, designs and stories on the events through digital photos and videos. Twitter is mainly used for shorter updates. The fashion companies involve ad agencies to help them come up with ads to promote their designs. The fashion companies and the ad agencies decide on the sites to use and control to take on the sites portray their image and content. Businesses are aware of the dependency that society has on technology as an information searching tool; thus, various fashion brands are encouraged to improve their social media uses to move on with the current trends. Social media makes consumers feel more connected to the fashion houses. It also provides individual brands with more exposure in the market.

Mobile apps which are mostly accessible to most smartphone users that are android and iPhone users give the users a platform to purchase brand sales, get fashion and styling tips and customize fashion trend news. Geo-location technology gives the brands a meaningful way to engage with the customers as they purchase the products thus enabling check-in and insights on a fashion tip, recommendations, offers on prizes and promotion; hence establishing stronger brand loyalty. This helps in promoting the company’s brand through word of mouth. Fashion design companies have found ways to manipulate apps on social networking sites and mobile phones to promote their brand. Companies have incorporated the use of brand influencers which has proven to be a significant marketing strategy. Brand influencers are people who use their social media platforms as a tool to promote brands with sponsored content. Brand influencers are mostly celebrities who usually have many followers such as athletes, models, artists and bloggers. Fashion house companies also use brand influencers as a means of narrowing down their target audience. Brand influencers help in ensuring that the brand is known to many, which is the primary purpose of marketing. Social has been and is still playing a pivotal role in promoting different fashion brands.

Question 5

The dress code of a person can say a lot about him. A person’s clothing signifies their religious beliefs, essential events in their life or a sense of belonging to a subculture. Some clothing’s that show a person’s religious beliefs are a nun’s habit, a Muslim’s abaya and a Hassidic Jew’s apparel. Outfits that indicate a significant event in a person’s life is a wedding dress, prom outfits and mourning clothes. Consequently, subcultures that have specific outfits include scouts, sports teams.

Historical trends also have what is deemed ‘acceptable when it comes to clothing. However, these trends keep on changing from time to time. For instance, in some communities, it was a taboo for women to wear trousers and to walk with uncovered hair, but this has changed currently since most societies allow women to wear pants and uncover their hair. Although in some communities this norm is still in place. Social and cultural values, like modesty and decency, are connected with the mode of dressing.

The length of shorts, skirts and dresses that a woman wears, ripped jeans and exposing some parts of the body receive many critics, perceptions and judgements from various cultures across the world. Also, the way clothing is dressed is linked to social norms like whether a shirt is tucked in or not or folding the arms of a jacket, sweater or shirt during a conversation. The colour of the clothing worn carries deep meanings. For instance, some colours are deemed to signify bad luck in some communities. For example, in some countries like India dressing in bright colours in a business environment is viewed positively, however, in Russia, bright colours are discouraged in a business environment since they signify unprofessionalism and can lead to damaging of the individual’s credibility.

One of the subcultures which have a dress code than can be used to signify it is the punk culture. The punk culture has several sets of ideologies, fashions and other means of expressions, film, dance, literature and visual art. The punk culture is mainly linked with ant-establishment views, promotion of individual freedom and DIY ethics. It is associated with punk rock, a loud and aggressive genre of rock music.

There are various fashions regarded as punk fashion. During the early times of punk fashion, everyday objects were adopted to add an aesthetic effect. The punks in the old times used safety pins and pins to hold together and wrap ripped clothes. Regular clothes were adjusted by embellishing them with markers or adorning them with paint. They used a safety pin and razor blades as jewellery. Most of the people who have adopted the punk culture wear tight ‘drainpipe’ jeans, t-shirts with offensive statements, leather jackets which are decorated. They use boots as their footwear, that is Dr Martens boots and army boots. They also style their hair, and most of the punks cut their hair into the Mohawk style and other dramatic hairstyles. Then they design it to stand in spike and more aesthetic look on it by colouring them using vibrant and bright colours. Most punks have lots of tattoos and like cosmetics and jewellery. Women associating themselves with punk culture are seen wearing masculine clothing. However, some punks are anti-fashion and do not wear the clothing that project punk cultures since they hold the belief that punk is usually defined by music or ideology, not fashion. These anti-fashion punks often dress up in t-shirts and jeans rather than the common fashion styles associated with punk culture.

The hippie subculture group originated from the United States in the mid-1960s after which it spread to other countries across the globe. The name hippies originated from the word hipster. The hippie culture greatly influenced the young culture of 1960s and early 1970s. The hippie fashion and values had a significant impact on the culture, popular music, literature, arts, television, films. Societies adopted many aspects of the hippie culture. The hippie culture was so different from other cultures seen before. The youths were fascinated with tie-dye, drugs, sex and rock and roll.

The hippies often wore loose clothes made of natural fibres like cotton and hemp. Both men and women kept their hair long and used hair products, fussy styling and shampoos to keep their hair fascinating. The hippies liked their clothes floral and tie-dyed with a bit of colour, and most of their clothes entailed experimental designs, Op art, paisley and stripes. The hippies preferred handmade clothing, whether sewn, knit or woven. The women preferred making their jewellery. Most jewellery was made using beads. Women wore necklaces, anklets, belly jewellery, and with all these, the music which was part of the hippie scene was made desirable. Flowers were a significant jewel of the hippie movement. Flowers represented peace and love, and the ladies would wear real flowers in their hair and painted flower images on the face. The hippie movement argued that in amidst of the struggles of the world, it was necessary to show as much natural beauty as possible. Hippies living on the warm west coast usually preferred to go barefoot since that time pedicure was not accessible. The hippie culture and fashion was the first youth movement to impact the fashion industry. Fashion designers looked for ideas from the young generation and never again have American women been influenced by the fashion industry.