Stylish Social Media

Whether you love it or loathe it, social media is everywhere these days - the fact is, it’s fast becoming one of the best ways for companies to connect with you, yet it’s a double-edged sword that can feel overwhelming. For every fast fashion leader like Topshop there are fans struggling to keep up with the non-stop updates. So, is social media a step in the right direction or just information overload?

A Great Revolution?

Most brands are completely attuned to Twitter and Facebook and use these two outlets as their biggest points of outreach beyond their websites. Louis Vuitton cleverly developed a Facebook app which allowed viewers to take still photos from the live streamed footage of a new store opening. The viewers then built up a photo gallery on their Facebook profile, so their photos from the event were posted as if they had attended the opening in person, which created social proof, recommending Vuitton to their friends through their newsfeed.

Topshop is currently celebrating a landmark three million Facebook fans, whilst other big hitters include Converse (33 million likes) and Dior (10 million). But whilst most of us become fans to find out about special offers, it’s also worth remembering that you can choose to hide all those pesky Facebook updates, so a company’s social media strategy is never being applied to the full audience figures.

Meanwhile Twitter is a fashion playground, which was literally pointed out when Nicole Scherzinger recently wore an LED dress that displayed live tweets, made by a company called Cute Circuit. Fashion Weeks around the world are documented by Twitter, in a mixture of industry and fan tweets which deliver swift verdicts on new collections. Smaller, but still significant, outlets such as Pinterest and Tumblr are also on the rise in terms of users and are becoming major points of contact for companies we know and love, whilst YouTube is the place to find catwalk videos and promotional short films, from aspiration-filled luxury stores like Agent Provocateur to everyday labels like River Island.

One of the most innovative brands when it comes to blogging is Uniqueness, an Italian range from designer Alessandra Facchinetti, who uses her blog as more than just a mouthpiece; it’s a way of finding out what customers and fans respond to and what they would want to see in their clothing. She also posts amazing mood boards to let you immerse yourself in the inspiration behind the designs. Rather than having the usual six month wait between showing a collection and putting it on sale, Facchinetti has also made everything instantly available so that what you’re tweeting about could be bought the same day, rather than being out of your reach. Other designers who are big on blogging include Vivienne Westwood, who spreads the word about her ethical campaigning at Active Resistance, whilst on the high street Republichas worked with a series of guest fashion bloggers month by month to develop freshly updated and on-trend content directly from its target audience.

Over on Google+ you’ll find that H&M is one of the biggest names in terms of fashion and it’s one of the recommended profiles to add to your circles (like following or friending someone) when you sign up to a G+ account, with a whopping 2 million people watching for updates. Their big trending campaigns such as #BeckhamforHM and #MargielaforHM focus on image and video-laden posts that you can’t help but want to share. Meanwhile Burberryhas over 1 million people tuning into its G+ feed, which is mainly full of product images but has the rather brilliant personal touch of Christopher Bailey’s #MusicMonday, giving viewers a glimpse into the world of the brand’s Creative Chief Officer.

A Whole Lot of Noise…

With all of those different channels churning out so much content, it can definitely be overwhelming and even off-putting to feel so overly connected, and it’s a wonder that the companies themselves can keep up. We’re experiencing social saturation: too many forms of communication with no respite, unless we physically disconnect and unfollow or un-like every last business. Even on holiday we are bombarded with tweets and Facebook posts begging us to carry on clicking, and somehow we do, whether it’s out of boredom or convenience. It can also be hard to spot the good updates amongst the pointless, when everything is ‘totes amaze’ and we’re seeing grainy Instagram images in our sleep (yeah, ok, maybe not in the case of Chanel or Dior, but you get my drift).

What’s also worth remembering is that you’re not getting the full picture from a label’s social media feed. Many of the larger companies have separate Twitter accounts to deal with complaints, meaning that you don’t see the backlash from unhappy customers that might allow you to decide whether or not to part with your cash. Some labels have actually become more cautious since the technology boom, because they’re so worried about getting negative feedback on Twitter or Facebook that might go viral; others are just struggling to monitor all their different new outlets, juggling updates on handfuls of different platforms with their own unique type of audience.

For the classic fashion houses there’s also the problem of exclusivity; they are offering couture that comes with a huge price tag and is deliberately not open to everyone, whereas you can follow their Twitter or blog updates without buying into that expensive world but still feel involved. This changes the state of play if you have access to that hidden world without paying for it, which can anger the diehard designer consumers who don’t want everyone jumping on the bandwagon. “Fashion is fundamentally elitist,” says theorist Lucy Norris, founder of the trend analysis website Prêt-à-rêver, “but now everyone is part of the elite.” Yes, it’s democratic, but it’s also confusing for brand identity.

Social media is something of a Pandora’s Box; now that we have all of these channels we cannot ignore them, as they have changed the way we interact with each other - whether we’re on a high street budget or we’re running a whole host of accounts for a designer. However it is mostly a positive tool for fashion brands and their major fans, as well as potential customers, and it should be treated as an asset as long as you don’t let yourself become dominated by it. Make sure you have some real people amongst your ‘following’ list on Twitter - not just clothing labels - and don’t become addicted to refreshing your feeds or checking Tumblr for new photos. Just like the couturiers who don’t want to dilute their niche appeal, use social media sparingly; let it widen your fashion sense and inspire you, not dominate your social life.