New York Fashion Week (this year, 7-15 September), has evolved a lot in the 7+ decades it has been in operation. In a recent article in BizJournals, Teresa Novellino presents 7 ways it has evolved due to technology.
Anyone Can Go:
In the past it was mainly attended by buyers, celebrities and fashion editors. Now, shoppers are in attendance.
Buy Today
Thanks to social media channels, today people can buy the stuff they see at the Fashion Week much earlier. It used to be that event photos were only published months thereafter due to the delay of print publications. But now that is not the case and consumers can look at articles of clothing they can buy almost immediately.
Private Shows
Fewer private showings, since they are being traded in for private appointments with small groups of corporate buyers and editors.
Virtual Reality Shows
There is now a way to be at the Fashion show, without actually being there. Watch the show from the comfort of your own home and actually feel like you are present during Fashion Week thanks to live broadcast.
SnapChat Fashion
Snapchat all the way. With the launch of Vogue’s Snapchat Discover Channel, the LA Times reported on new content twice a week with a feature which included: “15 Reasons to be Excited for New York Fashion Week.”
Music Industry
Fashion and music go together thanks to Tidal which live-streams events, drawing additional subscribers.
Google has just started “experimenting with search carousels that are created and curated by catwalk brands.” What this means for the brands is that they will be able to manage what pops up when a designer’s name is put into the search engine. Ultimately this will help Google engage in competition with Instagram, etc. to get traffic from fans of Fashion Week.