Ryan MacMillan

Season spring/summer 08, the latest trend within the fashion world is the net. A year that has seen fashion great Yves Saint Laurent bow out to life, and a new digital revolution born. A rapid advancement in digital connectivity is forcing the global fashion industry out of their comfort zone. The net is connecting and engaging people quicker than ever before. Where high-fashion was once a thing of the upper class, it is now being translated to the high street in the form of “knock-off” versions. Now it only takes a matter of seconds to create replicas with thanks to the advancement of technology with mobile phones. As a result the fashion industry has started to stand up and take notice of the digital world.

The last few years have shown the first signs of the industry dropping its guard, with self made bloggers rising to fame. The industry is keen to control what is said, which has led to these bloggers receiving, amongst other privileges, coveted press passes.

Social media is now fashionable and the fashion industry is keen to embrace it. The essence of fashion is individualism, to create a separate identity from the general public. We have seen this online with the emergence of fashion specific social networks. There are a number of these fashion networks about IQONS, fashion space and fashion networks seemingly the most significant.

The primary incentive for these fashion industry networks seems to take two different directions. On one hand there are networks that purely serve as directories of fashion services, in order to help people with fashion related needs. The networks aim to give the opportunity for new designers to showcase their work with the “superstars” of the industry. On the other hand there are fashion networking sites out there for shoppers and trend spotters which are orientated to the shopping component of fashion.

One main problem is that all these different fashion social networks are not networked. The idea of one perfect fashion network is nothing but a dream at this stage.

Would it even be possible to create one individual fashion network that caters for everyone’s needs, even if you had all the money available in the world? The nature of the fashion industry suggests this task is nearly impossible.

It is a poison chalice, too much popularity will render the network unfashionable. However, there are notable examples where fashion communities have managed to defy the odds with online success. Threadless.com is a website in which the community submit their ideas for potential t-shirt designs that are sold on the site. The community also vote over a period of 7 days to determine whether or not the t- shirt is successful. Threadless.com relies on its community for business.

The questions then are, how can we bridge the gap between these fashion networks and create one perfect network? And what is the point where a fashion trend starts to become unfashionable?

What I believe makes Threadless work as a community is that it is constantly moving with fashion, without overcomplicating things. It manages to stick to t-shirts, nothing else, with the community constantly reinventing the t-shirts they sell. The ability to transfer a designer’s idea into inventory on the site in a matter of weeks means it can be up to date with the fashion needs of the community. Threadless has a great balance, they know they don’t need to force the latest fashion trends into design, so the community can decide when and if they want to accept them.

Within many fashion/clothing communities there is a familiar scenario where people state, “whether this new season’s (………) is cool or un-cool”, which has an aura of conforming with no choice in the matter. It would be hard for a fashionista to disagree with a new trend/range from a well respected designer, and still look cool. It suggests to me the fashion communities on the whole are like sheep, following trends someone they respect within the fashion industry endorses or designs.

I don’t want to believe this is true, I like to think of the industry as more inspirational than conformist. Fashion will keep reinventing itself where internet trends will come and go. It is a question of how successfully fashion can be translated and communicated digitally. I believe the idea of one digital fashion network everyone within the industry is connected on, is not just achievable but necessary for the industry to adapt economically. It is now time for one of these fashion networks to get the support and spearhead the progression through this digital age.

In order to achieve this, the network needs to keep reinventing and offering something new to the users, in the same vein that Threadless updates its t-shirt ranges weekly. To achieve a successful social network the target users on the network should be the fashionists of this world, people with a true interest in fashion. It has to be selective of the crowd it attracts, perhaps through invitation-only membership or LinkedIn style personal networks. Success lies with the strength and validity of opinions and interaction taking place within the network.