Social Media Takes Over Fashion Trends

What is the first thing people check when they wake up, when they go to bed, and even when they are just trying to kill time? Social media. Speaking for myself, and others I think we have all been thinking of what to wear on a night out and thought to scroll through social media to get an idea. Social media is taking over the fashion industry more than people think.

In an article I read titled “Social Media Influences on Fashion” written by Alyssa Sellors, a former journalism and English teacher for seven years, the power of social media on fashion trends is discussed. The article describes the power of social media as “In the fashion industry, social media platforms can be used to interact with the consumer, as a means of networking with others in the industry, and as a way of building an online presence. But social media can also influence designers in unique ways that are changing the way many designers create their fashions”.

Social media started out as a way to interact with people and find out what they were doing, but now it has evolved to a place to showcase fashion trends and find out what the latest trends are. It used to be that people followed the fashion advice of big name designers and celebrities, but now thanks to social media “For decades, a few big names dominated the fashion industry in a very top-down fashion but now the average fashion blogger can influence major designers via social media outlets”. Everyday average people are able to become basically a celebrity, or become “instagram famous” thanks to social media. These people can gain thousands of follows by the outfits and trends they feature on their instagram, or facebook, or tumblr.

People are not only inspired by social media fashion trends, but they are also persuaded when buying things, the article says “According to 2014 market trends, a 2014 survey of social networks and buying behavior “showed significant proportions of shoppers being influenced by (and participating in) social sites and friends during their upcoming holiday shopping,” with the results showing: 30% of shoppers had made a purchase via social media in the last year (up by 12% from 2014), 49% planning to make a purchase because of a social referral, and 44% intending to discover new products via social networks”, consumers are being influenced by social media when buying things now and not just influenced.

Social media is one of the most powerful and prominent forces in our society, it has the power to completely alter someone and their fashion trends. The more and more prevalent social media is, the more people look to it for fashion advice and start to rely on it. I believe that in the future designers will start becoming less reliant on advertising in magazines and fashion shows, and more on social media because that is how our society is starting to become dependent on.