With photo sharing sites on the up, and Zuckerberg stating that Instagram has 100 million users, fashionable photography is one of the leading trends on social, perhaps just narrowly behind Justin’s Beliebers
Street Style, as it has become known, was brought to the mainstream by Bill Cunningham, who captured Swedish actress Greta Garbo for The Times in 1978. This was a huge milestone, as it was the first time a paper had run pictures of a ‘celebrity’, as we’d refer to them now, without their permission. Bill’s back catalogue is huge, reportedly taking snaps every day for the last 40/50 years. He has since inspired the new wave of social street photographers such as Scott Schuman, better known as The Sartorialist.
The ever increasing range of social platforms is not only helping to provide a virtual gallery for these photographers and style-gurus, but it is also providing them with front row access to fashion shows around the world. A glance at The Sartorialist makes it clear to see that he was given front row seats at the recent Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer show. Rewind a couple of years, to the Fall-Winter show of 2009, and BryanBoy made his first appearance in the front row.
Who? You might well ask. Bryan Grey-Yambao is a fashion blogger from the Philippines, who started his fashion blog in 2004 at the age of 24. Since then, he has amassed a huge number of followers, making fashions elite take notice and bringing in a reported $100k in 2010. The social boom has certainly benefitted Bryan, along with a range of names from the world of fashion blogging.
In the past I have documented Burberry’s innovative use of social, and from The Art of the Trench to live tweetwalks, the fashion house has been at the forefront of social, guided by Musa Tariq.
While some lead, others follow, although innovating is key in an industry which moves so fast. This year’s New York Fashion Week documented some sterling examples of how to engage with users, with Twitter snagging a seat in the front row. Ahead of Fashion Week, Twitter debuted a fashion guide, which highlighted key influencers within the industry, including fashion writers, designers, models and stylists. These users are heralded as some of the most influential to follow during the fashion season, including Victoria Beckham, and soon to be joined by her daughter Harper if her early moves are anything to go by. Not only that, it created the hashtag #DayInTheLife, set-up to provide followers with a unique behind-the-scenes view of the week.
To highlight the growth of social, it was estimated that this year one-third of designers would live stream their shows on YouTube, Livestream and Facebook pages. YouTube’s ‘Live From The Runway’ captured all of these and will rebroadcast them all on 13th September.
Elsewhere, users can check out Tumblr’s dedicated NYFW page or Women’s Wear Daily’s Pinterest, along with some of the other suave bloggers attending the events. Our data provider Brandwatch has also been casting an eye over the conversation, with Marc Jacobs the ‘social trend setter’ on 11th September.
While New York Fashion Week comes to an end, we look forward to London, hoping to see some more great uses of social. Topshop has got off on the right foot with a shoppable livestream of its show at 3pm GMT on Sunday, although personally I’m looking forward to see what Burberry produce on Monday.
From insight executive Mark @MisterMumble @yomegosocial