Running head: SOCIAL MEDIA’S ROLE IN FASHION THE INDUSTRY 1

Social Media’s Role in the Fashion Industry

Madison L. Morris

University of Kentucky

SOCIAL MEDIA’S ROLE IN FASHION THE INDUSTRY

Abstract

With the growing importance and influence of social media in the modern world, social media

has become a crucial factor of many industries especially that of fashion. This paper will discuss

how social media has affected communication between consumer and brand in the fashion

industry, and also how with the growth of social media fashion blogger has become a career and

how these bloggers have consumers communicate to become apart of the brand itself.

Keywords: communication, social media, technology.

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SOCIAL MEDIA’S ROLE IN FASHION THE INDUSTRY

Social Media’s Role in the Fashion Industry

For almost the entirety of the fashion industry’s existence the milieu has been immensely

exclusive, accepting only the wealthiest and most prestigious individuals to enter its realm.

However, in the last decade prominently the last five years, that has all changed. Consumers and

companies are able to communicate due to the always-growing power of social media. Social

media is a now crucial component of the fashion industry thus affecting communication between

companies, consumers, and retailers. With the emergence of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and

the like consumers can actually conduct interpersonal communication with companies and

retailers. The popularity of social media allows fashion designers, bloggers, and retailers to reach

an increasing number of people than ever before causing trends to grow faster and consumers to

know exactly what they intend to buy when they enter a store due to their knowledge from social

media. Social media is even creating new job opportunities within the fashion industry. Kelly

Cutrone, fashion publicist and owner of the PR firm People’s Revolution says, “people want to

feel connected” (Prabhakar, 2010) This connection is affecting the fashion industry in

communication along with a multitude of other ways.

After a quick tally, I follow over 200 clothing companies, retailers, fashion bloggers, and

celebrities on Instagram and Twitter. This number embarrassingly enough outweighs the amount

of actual people I follow. However, this statistic shows that fashion is (if it hasn’t already)

becoming a situation of intrapersonal communication between company and consumer

contrasting from the exclusive fashion industry of the past. We are now able to send and receive

messages from companies and receive a type of “customer service” at anytime. If you receive a

product and have a question or an issue you can simply tweet at that company and expect a

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SOCIAL MEDIA’S ROLE IN FASHION THE INDUSTRY

response back. Of course this may not always be the most effective form of communicating a

problem but their people are happy to have that immediate response rather than waiting days or

even weeks.

Not only can consumers share their questions regarding a product, many fashion brands

are having campaigns where consumers share how they “wear” the brand. American Eagle

Outfitters began the “Project Live Your Life Campaign” in 2013 featuring “real” people showing

pieces from the AE collection. American Eagle also asked for customers to share how they wear

their AE apparel by tweeting and instagraming their outfits featuring the brand. Chief marketing

officer said, “’Project Live Your Life’ is about showcasing our customers’ individual, optimistic,

American style.” (PRNewswire, 2013) The Project Live Your Life campaign is a prime example

of consumers feeling connected, and being apart of the fashion industry rather than just

observing.

Some consumers have gone as far as making a career out of sharing how they wear their

favorite brands. Fashion bloggers have made the fashion industry more accessible to the average

person. Beginning as mostly hobbies for most Fashion Blogging is now a featured career in

many magazines and brands. These bloggers can now be seen in the same light and influence as

designers and celebrities. People can relate more to a “real” person than a millionaire or social

lite.

Fashion bloggers have even invented new technology to help their followers obtain the

current fashion trends with the emergence of liketoknow.it, a website dedicated to finding the on

trend fashions ready to buy. All the follower has to do is like an Instagram photo. After liking a

bloggers photo on Instagram featuring their outfit of the day or certain product, liketoknow.it

will send the “ready to shop” product directly to their inbox. Here we see an almost instant

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response allowing consumers to purchase brand name trends worn by their favorite fashion

blogger. So, with almost no work at all, just a tap of the finger, you are sent the product readily

available for you to purchase. Here, we see almost a lack of communication. This example shows

how social media decreases the need for actual communication when looking to make a

purchase, the only communication being the fashion blogger receiving a message that you “like”

what they are doing. (DistrictSparkle, 2014)

With the growing population and popularity of fashion bloggers, celebrities, brands, and

designers on social media fashion trends spread faster. “And why shouldn’t they? Social media

has allowed many businesses to reach out to millions of users, build relationships with them and

market their products and services.” (Rose, 2014) Social media has taken mass communication

to a completely new level. We can now reach over a billion people with one post. Predictably,

the most “liked” photo of 2014 was that of Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West sharing their

first kiss as husband and wife, the photo racked up 2.4 million likes, “making it not only the

biggest picture of the year but the most popular photo in Instagram’s history.” (Lara, 2014) This

exemplifies that, how one photo can have such a reaction from the population. Similarly, one

photo featuring a piece of clothing can be “retweeted”, “repinned” or “reblogged by a vast

multitude of in a matter of hours. With the technology discussed before not only can this trend

spread instantaneously it can be bought almost at the same speed. Fast sales are obviously in the

interest of brands therefore reinforcing the importance and influence of social media in the

fashion industry.

A study was conducted in 2012 that found 78.6% of sales people that used social media

would out sell those who didn’t. The study also found that every year since 2010

retailers/salespeople using social media “exceeded quota at a higher rate than non-social media

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users.” (Forbes, 2012). This may not connect directly with the fashion industry but it goes to

show in the last half decade that social media increases sales.

Figure 1. Social Media Sales vs. Non-Social Media Sales. A chart showing the difference in sales quota between social media users and non-social media users.

This leads into the last major effect social media has had on the fashion industry, people

know what they want enough minimizing communication with sales associates and in many

instances (like online retail) completely cut out. Through the use of social media and the internet

in general a consumer can research a product enough to wear they can enter a retailer and find

exactly what they are wanting avoiding communication with sales associates or tell associate

exactly what they are looking for keeping communication between consumer and retailer at a

minimum. However, with this minimization comes a maximization of another type of

interpersonal communication but computer-mediated communication.

When purchasing online the communication between consumer and retailer is usually

non-existent or kept at a limit of an automated confirmation email confirming the purchase and

including the details of the purchase. Shelly Banjo and Drew Fitzgerald of the Wall Street

Journal analyzed this decrease in foot traffic in January of 2014 and found these astonishing

numbers.

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SOCIAL MEDIA’S ROLE IN FASHION THE INDUSTRY

Figure 2. Retail Foot Traffic and Opened Retail Space Decline. Bar graph expressing the decline of physical shopping and the opening of new retail space in the last 20 years.

The graph above shows the drastic decline of “retail foot traffic” since 2010 and “new retail

space opened” since the early 2000’s. The pair also noted from interviews that more and more

people don’t see a reason to shop in “brick-and-mortar stores” with the ever-growing impact of

the Internet. (Banjo and Fitzgerald, 2014) These declining numbers have even contributed to the

closing of retailer’s worldwide. The resulting decrease in stores also leads to a decrease in

demand of retail workers and finally a decrease in physical communication with actual human

beings in a retail setting.

However, with the decline of physical retailers and need for sales associates, social media

has enabled a new job market to open up. Social media consultants are now of major importance

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within brands, designers, and fashion magazines. An example of such a consultant in modern

pop culture can be seen on recent cycles of Tyra Banks’ “America’s Next Top Model” there we

see fashion blogger “BryanBoy” integrated onto a panel of judges that once included elite

supermodels Twiggy and Janice Dickenson, former editor-at-large for Vogue Magazine, André

Leon Talley and the previously mentioned PR maven Kelly Cutrone. Thus making Bryan

Yumbao “the first fashion blogger to become a mainstream TV star” (Lau, 2012). This

perpetuates just how prominent social media has and is becoming in the modern fashion

industry.

All in all, social media along with is growing at a rapid pace within any industry

especially that of fashion. Due to the pace of social media growth one can only expect fashion

trends, brands, and products to go as quickly. Even though some forums of communication are

slowly declining into extinction but new vehicles of communication are being developed

everyday. Those in the fashion industry are looking forward to these developments to advance

their industry. Many are excited to see the new careers popping up within the use of social media

and technology and to see the communication gap lessen with a consumer’s ability to

communicate with a brand. It is safe to say that consumers will only gain more and more power

in the fashion industry and have a much bigger say in what is “in” and what is “out”, because we

all know “one day you are in and the next day you’re out” in fashion. (Klum, 2004)

References

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American Eagle Outfitters Features Real People In Spring 2013 "Project Live Your Life"

Campaign. (2013, February 28). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-eagle-outfitters-features-real-

people-in-spring-2013-project-live-your-life-campaign-193822541.html

Banjo, S., & Fitzgerald, D. (2014, January 16). Stores Confront New World of Reduced Shopper

Traffic. Retrieved April 2, 2015, from

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304419104579325100372435802

DECODING LIKE TO KNOW IT - District Sparkle. (2014, August 28). Retrieved April 13,

2015, from http://districtsparkle.com/decoding-like-to-know-it/

Klum, H. (2004) Innovation. H, Klum. Project Runway. New York, NY: Bravo Cable System

Lara, M. (2014, December 23). These Are the Most "Liked" Instagram Photos of 2014.

Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.popsugar.com/celebrity/Most-Liked-Photos-

Instagram-2014-36213068#photo-36213068

Lau, K. (2012, May 25). Meet Tyra's protege: Fashion blogger Bryanboy revealed to be new

America's Next Top Model judge. Retrieved April 16, 2015, from

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2150007/Meet-Tyras-protege-Fashion-blogger-

Bryanboy-revealed-new-Americas-Next-Top-Model-judge.html

Prabhakar, H. (2010, February 13). How the Fashion Industry is Embracing Social Media.

Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://mashable.com/2010/02/13/fashion-industry-social-

media/

Study: 78% Of Salespeople Using Social Media Outsell Their Peers. (2013, May 19). Retrieved

April 2, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2013/05/19/study-78-of-

salespeople-using-social-media-outsell-their-peers/

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