Is it possible, that with our endless quest for security and safety in our lives, we increasingly find it difficult to adjust ourselves to new structures? Maybe, our old ideas of trends, seasons, haute couture, pret-a-porter, fast fashion and all the hybrids in between are outdated already... with our intuitive desire to label things new perspectives might be restricted. It is time to challenge our old thinking patterns:
When will the fashion industry and the satellite industries around it start to admit that mass market is dead and instead we are confronted with numerous micro markets? How can we target those micro markets in journalism, marketing and PR if every individual in it is insisting to be oh-so-different from his comrades? If the lasting vintage hype has shown us one thing, it is that people are beyond the stage of wanting to look the same and wearing a
global uniform -
trend is done- individualism is trump. The spottet
casualization of clothing during the last years might just be another extension of the desire to put behind global fashion conformity.
Are we on the verge of experiencing a renaissance of bespoke fashion? Of custom-made tailoring and of brands, which are delivering regional micro trends instead of global fashion? Are pop-up stores the answer to our ever-changing taste levels and the
ennui that holds us in his tight grip when facing same-old retail environments?
We are confronted with an up to now unknown flood of textile possibilities and fashion diversity.
The even and rigid mask of mass consumerism has been dropped and shattered into numberless splinters, resulting in each and every broken fragment becoming an entitiy in its own right, with its own vivid psychographic profile, its own taste levels, desires and preferences.
Despite the financial reality that has hit us all in the face over the last years, we are all becoming more and more aware of the fact that the economy of scarcity is long gone and we have been living in an economy of abundance for quite some time already. What does that mean for us, the consumer? Well, very simple: WE get to chose - sometimes we even get to dictate. The internet as the most democratic medium in the world, has enabled us to have almost anything at our command one Visa Card and one click away.
We get to influence the market, due to a shift of power from producer to consumer: economical success of companies depends on our goodwill and them keeping us happy. Many companies have been shifting from being product oriented towards being consumer oriented, which means we'll get what we want and we even have a say under which conditions we get it.
Designer darlings and fashion faux-pas are no longer exclusively appointed by elitist fashion crowd working for Conde Nast but alternatively can be proclaimed by pretty much anybody: bloggers, unknown journalists and so on. One percentage of the world population is suddenly able to become opinion leader in a movement. For god's sake, don't expect a new world order just yet - but sometimes it is a good thing to realise and acknowledge significant changes.
Exciting times we are in - even more exciting times lie ahead of us.
xoxo
Glamazone
A healthy share of the re-discovery of the feminine female body, can surely be attributed to "Mad Men" and its fabulously talented costume designer, Janie Bryant who has been digging up petticoats, pencil skirts, costumes, cone shaped bras and suspender belts to celebrate the gloriously iconic fashion times of the 50ies and 60ies.
