Do You Remember Fashion Before Social Media?

Thanks to social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, it seems like almost anyone can become a famous fashion blogger or well-known Instagramer nowadays, but that's not always how the industry worked. Read on to find out how technology and social media have changed the fashion industry through the years in this story that originally appeared on Social Media Week.

Fashion is dead, trend forecaster Li Edelkoort recently declared. She went on to call the fashion industry "a ridiculous and pathetic parody of what it has been." In an industry once known for its traditional "Savile Row" style — i.e. classic tailoring with everything made to fit — is she right? Today's fashion designer is less concerned with fit and more concerned with attention. But I challenge Edelkoort: is this a new phenomenon? Or a reflection of what has been since the dawn of social media?

Life Before "Mainstream" Social Media: The '80s

As a child of the '80s, I am infinitely familiar with the notion of excess and the rise of the glitterati. It was a period defined by big hair, big shoulders, and big money. The operative word being BIG.

We watched Madonna go from pop star to megastar as she gyrated on the floor in a lace wedding dress while singing "Like a Virgin" on MTV. Ozzy Osbourne became the "Madman of Rock" when he bit the head off a bleeding bat on stage in front of a huge crowd. Michael Jackson walked the streets with his "friend" — a monkey named Bubbles — and danced with dead zombies in his hit music video "Thriller." And Vivienne Westwood, known for her anarchist movement and punk style (including bondage gear, safety pins, and razor blades), showed fashion collections in Paris and London with titles such as Savages, Witches, and World's End.

Madonna, Ozzy, MJ, and Westwood — these were the darlings of social media before there was mainstream social media. They performed wild stunts in crazy outfits just to stand out, perhaps becoming a bit of a parody of themselves. Or was it actually them becoming themselves? Either way the press loved them, sharing their content around the world across media channels and propelling them into instant stardom.

The Rise of "Mainstream" Social Media: The '90s and 2000s

Which brings us to the rise of mainstream social media. Blogging, AOL instant messenger, Google, and Napster were just the beginning. Then came the familiar faces we know and love and rely on daily — YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. Today anyone can be a star, thanks to these companies. The most obvious example being the Kardashian family whose success in fact depends upon them and upon the millennial generation who grew up with social media.

But if everyone is a star, does that mean, in essence, that no one is a star? It's clear that traditional notions of success have changed. Gone are the days when people knew who these stars were and why they were famous. What matters now is how many selfies a day they can take in strange outfits pulling even stranger stunts.

In fashion, this has translated into designers looking more and more for unique and bizarre materials for their products — cow stomachs for leather, beer bottles for denim, gold from bacteria poop. And the media loves their creations! VFiles recently shook up the fashion scene when its runway "spectacle," featuring up-and-coming designers 100 percent sourced from its own online social community, included scooters, white poodles, and lots of neoprene and mesh. And let's not forget Olivia Palermo, Chiara Ferragni, and Man Repeller's Leandra Medine — all powerful style "influencers" whose fame came from blogging.

Life After "Mainstream" Social Media: The Future

So what does it all mean? Some individuals, like Shark Tank's Mark Cuban, believe the future will see a move in the opposite direction, away from the use of social media and toward increased privacy and security. He's even developing mobile apps around this notion.

Others suggest that social media will prevail, but we will see the rise of a different sort of industry leader. And I think we already are. Many newer brands are intensely focused on having strong social missions, setting themselves apart from the crowd and giving themselves a sense of meaning and purpose and value. Warby Parker, TOD's, Everlane, Favoire, and Queen of Raw, to name a few in the fashion industry. And these companies use social media regularly to share their positive messages — #dogood, #transparency, #sustainability, #slowfashion.

So although social media may have killed the traditional "Savile Row" notion of what fashion is, it is, at the same time, propelling us into the future, leaving a path of innovation and goodness in its wake.