In order to maintain its relevancy, the fashion industry needs to keep up with all sorts of global trends including virtual reality. Virtual reality is defined as “the computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors.”, if you refer to my previous posts you could see how this could be beneficial to the fashion industry because of the fact that the industry is being heavily influenced by social media and the tech world in general. Fashion companies that are either solely known for their online presence or that are trying to increase their online presence could use virtual reality in their favour.

A simple way for brands to include virtual reality into their online websites would be to create a feature that allows their clients to applaud 360 images of themselves to be able to “try on” the clothes on their virtual selves so that they can better envision themselves in the garments they will be purchasing. Thus creating less returns to the retailer and the company due to the customers insatisfaction.

A few brand shave already done this and it has proved to be successful. Lacoste was one of the early adopters of this trend wen they introduced the AR feature with an app that allowed their clients to view what a shoe would look like on their foot and displaying product details.

Kate Spade was also one of the first brands to embrace this new technology when they opened their first brick and mortar store in Paris. Kate Spade released an AR app as well that allowed their consumers/users to take a virtual walking tour of Paris. Although this may seem irrelevant to the brand itself, this marketing stunt created a lot of traffic towards their new store as well as positive press for the brand as a whole.

Virtual reality could ease the cognitive dissonance that most online shoppers feel after making a purchase. Virtual reality would allow them to use more than their imagination, or a model who they most likely cannot relate to in terms of proportions, as a way to figure out how a garment will actually look on their bodies. VR gives the client the opportunity to not only see how the garment would fall on the silhouette, but also see how the colours would complement their skin tone or hair colour. Virtual reality is also beneficial as a great marketing tool because it is still relatively new to the general public and it creates hype and attraction to a brand because of the fact that it comes across as innovative and modern.

I believe that virtual reality could be used as a great tool for fashion brands to better connect with their consumers. I think that if used correctly it is a great way for brands to get a better understanding of their customers needs and for customers to feel more secure with their purchases!

Lil Miquela took the blogger/influencer community by storm last year by being one of the first CGI fashion bloggers/influencers. Some people find her fame and even her existence, or better yet lack there of, to be quite strange while others embrace it. Lil Miquela, like most social media influencers, posts pictures of her outfits, upcoming projects, and takes a stand on things she believes in, in order to convey a clear personality to her following, the only difference between herself and most of the peers would be the fact that she isn’t real.

 

Although her account was created in 2016, lil Miquela started to gain attention around 2017-2018. Lil Miquela has around 1.5 million followers. Her account was created as a digital art project by two students who have remained anonymous. The two also created  two other CGI instagram influencers by the names of Blawko22 and BermudaIsBae. There have been a multitude of conspiracies based on the origins of these accounts and their purpose. Some people have said lil Miquela was created as a marketing tool to promote Sims (the video game with characters who resemble lil Miquela) and there have also been rumours about numerous models who might have been behind the page. The initial discovery of these instagram accounts can get kind of confusing because they are pictured with one another and are created with so much detail that they almost look real, but then they are also pictured with real life people in real backgrounds, so you almost don’t know what is actually real and what is digitally manufactured to look real.

Lil Miquela has partnered with some of the most popular fashion and streetwear brands and has become a great form of publicity for each of them because she incites curiosity. The fashion industry is always evolving and constantly changing, therefor it only makes sense for these brands to want to partner with lil Miquela. She starts a conversation and those brands become a part of that conversation. If everyone is talking about her and debating all the conspiracies surrounding her, why not bring that attention towards your brand?

Personally I think CGI influencers make social media feel even more meaningless and fabricated than it already is. However, I dont entirely think that is a bad thing, because I don’t think social media should be taken too seriously. I feel as though, lil Miquela and influencers like her, reflect the negative aspects of social media, and in my opinion lil Miquela is the materialization of our society’s obsession with fame. It’s as if the creators are making a mockery out of the whole industry by saying it is so easy to be famous that you don’t even have to be a real person. To conclude, in my opinion, it is a little strange to look at a picture of something that looks so real while knowing that it isn’t, but that is essentially the same thing as the most famous instagram influencers who heavily edit and photoshop their pictures to the point where you are again, looking at something that seems real, but isn’t!

 

A few decades ago fashion marketing students were taught that the online shopping industry was just another trend that would pass eventually but it has become a cultural phenomenon and a great means of convenience. Due to this, the online shopping industry has become an unforeseen threat to the retail industry. Compare how much we depend on the internet, to how we used the Internet 20 years ago.

As I previously mentioned, the convenience of online shopping’s unparalleled, which highlights the flaws of the retail industry. Retailers have had no choice but to increase their customer service to try and get half of the amount of engagement that online stores get. This is because the average working person has recognized how unnecessary, overwhelming and inconvenient the retail experience can be.

Let’s say theres a shirt you saw at your favourite store two weeks ago. At the time you might have been too busy or maybe you just didn’t feel like spending that money, regardless you are ready to buy it now! So you travel to your favourite store just to buy the shirt you’ve been wanting for two weeks, and once you get there, they don’t have your size and they will never restock. But, if you had the option to buy it online, knowing that you would have the money to spend in two weeks, you could have bought it right when you saw it and paid off however much it costs on your credit card. Instead of having to listen to music you don’t like, you could shop within the comfort of your own home, without the pressure of a sales associate trying to make their quota or commission off of you.

The online shopping experience has also improved over the past couple of years. The biggest issues consumers had in the past with online shopping were either that it would take too long to deliver or that they weren’t sure how the product would fit on them. These problems have been solved and are continuously being improved upon. The first issue of the time of delivery has been solved by express shipping, companies like Amazon have even gone as far as delivering their goods within forty-eight hours. Yes, express shipping is slightly more expensive then regular shipping, but in my opinion if someone is so impatient that they can’t wait a week or so to receive a package, they deserve to pay more. The second issue has been solved by more accommodating return policies, and by some websites having 360 views of the garment/product on and off the models, and publishing close up pictures of the garment/product to see what the fabric may look like in person. Companies also give quite vivid descriptions of the items they are selling online including the fibre content, the sizes available as well as a sizing chart which allows you to compare the dimensions of the garment or item to your preferences.

I believe that this increase in popularity towards online shopping is a good thing because although, the online shopping industry is booming, I personally don’t think it could ever completely drown out the retail industry. Sometimes a size chart and a close up image aren’t enough, the experience of shopping can be fun from time to time, and it’s nice to be able to feel and see in person what you are going to spend your money on before you actually spend your money on it. So to conclude, the online shopping industry is undeniably more convenient than having to physically go to a store but some experiences shouldn’t necessarily always be more convenient.

Fast fashion brands thrive on technology. Most of these fast fashion brands solely exist online and have no brick and mortar establishments. Brands such as Misguided, Princess Polly, FashionNova and many more use their social media presence and the boom of online shopping to make more sales and sell more. Since we receive information at a quicker rate, our attention span lessens and we lose interest a lot faster than in the past. Fast fashion brands like Fashion Nova and Misguided profit off of this and use the ideas of designers and produce their clothing at a faster rate which gives them an unfair advantage.

This new found speed of trends and mass production in my opinion is a really bad thing. This not only has a incredibly negative impact on the environment it is also morally wrong to steal ideas from another person and make a profit off of their creativity. Personally I think that this also has a hand in the way we perceive style and personal style. Teenagers now a days are more likely to buy things just because they think it’s trendy rather than because they genuinely appreciate it. Do people actually like what they’re buying or are they just buying into the hype of a trend and waiting for the next one to come around? And how do we even know what we like anymore, when we are constantly being sold things with the idea of whichever lifestyle we think we’re supposed to have.

Most of us already know that the fashion industry is the second most pollutant industry in the world and these fast fashion brands aren’t helping. They produced their garments in an unforeseen mass quantity that is detrimental to the environment. Fast fashion leads to a large amount of fabric waste and water pollution. It also takes a lot of water to make a garment, so the fast fashion industry

These fast fashion companies use social media and and their online presence to to lure in their consumers, and since attaining their product is so convenient because you dont even have to leave the comfort of your own home to receive their garments, they gain a large following. This large following that they’ve now acquired, buys a lot of items at once because their clothing is so cheap. These brands no have to supply a large demand that is constantly being spread throughout social media and through the promotion of influencers, leading to even more unsustainable production, waste and low paid labor. All in the name of a trendy look for less.

Not only has technology allowed these brands to become increasingly more popular in a much easier way than in the past, it is allowing them to quickly copy the ideas of lesser known brands and make a larger profit off of someone else’s creativity. It isn’t fair in my opinion that these coma pies make millions of dollars off of the hard work of someone else regardless of how expensive it is to buy the original item.

Technology has had an incredible impact on the magazine industry . More and more print magazines are either going out of business or increasing their prices due to the lack of interest from their consumers. The younger generations use social media as a means to receive most of their information, which is why print magazines are dying out. If you can see everything for free why would you spend money to get the same information?

Why is technology and social media affecting the magazine industry, and is it a good thing?

As I previously mentioned, more and more print magazines are either increasing their prices or simply going out of business. This change in the industry is largely a result of the social media influencer age we live in. Bloggers and instagram models have an incredible amount of influence on their followers. The influence they have used to be the influence magazine editors and journalists had. Magazines like Vogue, Harpers’ Bazaar, etc… used to be on the forefront of the latests trends, they dictated what would stick and what everyone should be wearing. Nowadays influencers decide this, whatever your favourite influencer is wearing is what your going to want to wear, or at least a cheaper version of it. Fashion week was just a week ago, and a large percentage of the people sitting in the front row were influencers. Anyone who knows anything about runway shows knows that the front row is reserved for the most important people in fashion, and those individuals used to only be fashion journalists or the elite of the fashion industry. This changed because designers and marketers realized that social media influencers have a greater impact on their consumers, due to the fact that they’re relatable and their personalities.

Another reason why the print industry is dying through the fault of the rise of social media and technology, is the cost. Magazines are an unnecessary purchase and consumers only bought them or continue to buy them, because they value the information inside and they know they most-likely won’t be able to find that information anywhere else. Bloggers and magazines have eliminated this cost by publishing their editorials and articles online for free, so those who haven’t jumped on the trend have lost their business. If you can watch an instagram live story on a runway while it’s happening, why would you pay to read about it months later? Modern technology creates a level of accessibility that is incredibly necessary to the growth of the fashion industry, due to the fact that our society as a whole appreciates having as much access to information as possible.

Print magazines in my opinion are a great collectors item and a purchase I would make if I were either a fan of the magazine itself or if were interested in a large percentage of the articles within the magazine. Otherwise it’s not something I think about buying, because I know I have access to everything I want to know about my favourite brands, trends and the latest runway shows through the internet. Editorial magazines such as ‘Sporty and Rich’ and ‘032C’ are exceptions and are successful because they recognize the interests of the youth of the fashion industry, and base the release of their magazines on exclusivity. The editorial’s featured in these magazines are also often promoted on social media because off the aesthetic through their consumers, which is a great promotional tool.

Unless you’re a large company like Vogue, who has multiple branches around the world, a cult following and a large amount of credibility and influence on the fashion industry, then I suggest that magazine companies incorporate social media and technology as a means of either promoting or publishing their articles. They could also find success by creating anticipation and exclusivity by producing a smaller quantity of physical magazines.