In early 2000, the establishment of social media including Facebook and YouTube is part of the transformation of web 2.0, developing from data-based page into a web page that can be participated. (Stevenson, M, 2018) Also, social media is available for money making.( Marwick, A,2013)In the world of fashion industry, social media play a significant role in many aspects of reshaping the industry, altering it into a participatory, accessible industry for the ordinary people. In the following content, the further details will be described including the rise of social media influencer, marketing strategy.
Transformation
1. Fashion Icons
The first transformation is the emergence of fashion influencer in social media who change the status between brands and consumers because of the participatory culture. One feature of social media is participating that users can involve in the content creation and they can engage in the process by spreading the content in recreation and sharing forms. (Fuchs, 2014). There is bare limitation for users to participate and social media enable them to connect with each other. (Fuchs, 2014) In addition, “participation means that humans have the right and reality to be part of decisions and to govern and control the structures that affect them.” (Fuchs, 2014) Hence, when social media enable the users to participate in a variety of content, they are empowered and affect the industry. In fashion industry, the consumers are reconstructed through digital technology where it produce the fashion icons. (Boyd, 2010). By using social media, the consumers are no longer passive because they can involve in the industry, share their look and follow the social media accounts of the fashion magazines to learn the colour code and improve their fashion sense. Gradually, they are constructing their own fashion online community that inevitable demand the leader who are the social media influencers and they are recognized by the mainstream fashion industry as fashion icons. (The fashion network, 2018) They share their fashion style in multiple platforms such as Instagram and YouTube and their fans will be inspired by their look and copy it. Thus, social media influencer become the leader of fashion trend and govern the popularity of fashion products, which was impossible in the magazine times. For this reason, the fashion brands realize the power of social media fashion icons, they start to cooperate with them.
https://www.glamour.com/story/popular-bags-with-girls-names (Leah Melby Clinton’s image.2015)
Taking Alexa Chung as an example, who have about 3.2 million fans in Instagram, she became an ambassador for brands and have her own name handbag.(Alexa.C, 2019) Through the corporation, the fashion brand become more popular and famous, which boost the consumption. Generally, the fashion icons as consumers and audience can participate in fashion industry and bring relatively equal relationship between brands and audiences because fashion trend is no longer only depends on the designer’s fashion sense.
2. “SEE NOW AND BUY NOW”
Secondly, the affordances of social media alter the fashion industry into an engaging and interacting industry, particularly affect the marketing strategy of fashion brands. To begin with, “the concept of affordance is generally used to describe what material artifacts such as media technologies allow people to do.” (Taina and Anne, 2017, p3) Primarily, the limitation of affordances does not strict invisible sense, also, these enable audience to feel and hear. (Taina and Anne, 2017) It is not about perception but relate to action and interaction. (Gaver, 1996, p114) Besides, affordances can actively be noticed by the audiences and the existence of this is for social interaction. (Gaver, 1996, p114) Therefore, when we discuss the affordances of social media, we need to consider the potential action that have connection with its user and how user use it to build social interaction. (Taina and Anne, 2017, p3) More importantly, social media affordance should be easy to be comprehend by the audience, when audience use it, they are not only approaching the afforded action, but also view the action with multiple meaning. When new affordance being designed, the further meaning of it can affect user’s perception and some of them might disagree with it because of the meaning in their understanding. (Taina and Anne, 2017, pp23-24) Hence, the significance of social media affordance have been noticed by many industries, it is a useful technology to transform the relationship between industry and customers, its interactive features help industries have more interaction with their consumer and gain better understanding of real need from their customers. The fashion industry’s marketing strategy have been altered as they need to cater for the special demand of potential customers and allow their customers to have engagement with them in social media platform through the affordance. “More and more fashion brands decide to leverage it and broadcast live their fashion shows making them available not only to an exclusive audience but to everyone.” (Mphamquang, 2018) With the assistance of live show affordance, users are more likely to engage with the fashion week and express their perspective about the new collection and it contribute to build intimacy relationship with brands and their customers. Additionally, the live show have boost the consumption of the new collection. For example, because live show is an instant information broadcasting affordance, it functionally allow social media users to interact and engage with the updated content while them viewing it. Thus, a new commercial mode in fashion industry have been came up with, “SEE NOW AND BUY NOW”. (Mphamquang, 2018)
(https://digital-me-up.com/2018/01/06/impact-social-media-fashion-industry-see-now-buy-now-model/) (mphamquang’s image,2018)
Social media platform afford the tags that can inserts words and links, accordingly, after or while the audience watching the show, they can purchase fashion products through the tags in their screen that is the link of online shopping website. Social media users are more likely to buy the products as they comprehend this affordance by the words in it that drive them to click and purchase. Because of the two social media affordances (live show and tags), the interactive and intimacy shopping mode improve the sales and users feel more close to the fashion industry.
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