Fashion Week Live
New York and London are well behind us, and Milano just hit the finishing line to hand over the baton to Paris. During these fashion weeks we’ve noticed that it has never been so easy to follow the runway, even without a front row ticket. That digital aspect – on not only fashion in general, but fashion week per se – has been an up-going trend for seasons, is a fact. Though, how far will this digitalization take the democratization of fashion?
Over the past seasons the number of live-streamed fashion shows has increased. Some brands distribute the work to external sites while others tie it closer to the brand and make the digital a part of their identity. Burberry is a great example of a brand that has been awarded and recognized for their digital communication, which has been given a lot of thought and place on the agenda. From an extensive social media presence to special projects like Art Of The Trench and Burberry Acoustics, the company has been sort of ‘pioneer’ on many levels. With live comments and both 3D and 2D shows, the brand has also been holding the torch when it comes to fashion week live streams.
Fashion is becoming more democratic, whether you in some areas are speaking of the aesthetics and in others of the access to it in the very same minute as the editors, buyers and bloggers on the front row. Over the last seasons we have seen cases where the audience in front of their laptop screens have been able to see the looks even few seconds before they hit the runway. The online audience often get a better and more detailed view, and their comments are broadcasted over the Internet long before the front row has even left the venue.
The discussion of live streaming and direct access for the “non-authorized” is interesting from many aspects. To engage and include the audience through digital platforms has been a natural step, and it’s now so wide-spread that it quite frankly does no longer feel as an option not to be considered. But if everyone ‘gains access’ to fashion week, where is the exclusivity? Or does a front row ticket, which gives one access to the full experience, today, become even more exclusive? Maybe it’s a question of preferences, but a sure thing is that the fashion week audience never has been as large, or wide, as it is today.
