It has been observed that 45% of Instagram users visit the social network to discover what's coming up in fashion tomorrow. Under these conditions, we can clearly argue that Instagram is the medium that has most revolutionized the world of fashion in recent years. Instagram has completely overturned the way we communicate the identity of a brand, a photographer, a model and so on. The era of the mysterious, inaccessible image of a luxury brand's identity seems well and truly over. In this article, we take a look at how this small revolution is taking place in the world of fashion and luxury.
Fashion brands in search of accessibility.
Back in the days of glossy paper, when the great fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harpers Baazar were famous, fashion brands relied on the inaccessibility of their image. Distance was the watchword. Little was known about the lives and histories of designers, models, photographers and so on.
Today, with Instagram, the trend has completely reversed. Brands want to be increasingly accessible, closer to people and customers. With Instagram, we have this very strong feeling of belonging to a group, to a community. As a result, influencers have become veritable muses and brand ambassadors, thanks solely to their daily posts of images of themselves wearing the brand's clothes.
The new decision-makers are the stars of Instagram. As the desire to belong to a group is very strong on this network, the followers of these stars are inevitably inspired by their looks, want to resemble them and thus seek to appropriate the same clothes.
This is where brands come in. In fact, they position themselves on Instagram by seizing the image of certain influencers. It's a great place to analyze and identify customer habits and tastes. As a result, many brands have started sponsoring these influencers directly, in order to provide the best possible response to Internet users/customers.
Instagram: unprecedented interaction with customers.
Unlike a fashion magazine, Instagram allows you to interact directly with a community. In fact, on Instagram you can chat, exchange ideas, directly access a brand or model agency link, and finally, go straight to the brand's shopping site.
The more active a brand is on Instagram, interacting with web users, the more customers will flock. That's why Instagram stories are increasingly used by web users. Brands can thus communicate on a large scale about their new products, but also about their upcoming events, backstage at a fashion show or even the making of a collection. In this way, customers can immerse themselves in the life of the brand.
Instagram as a genuine sales platform.
Many brands have realized that, beyond being a formidably effective communication medium, Instagram can be a genuine sales platform. And that's the major difference with fashion magazines, which are ultimately just a means of communicating about the brand and its products.
In addition, the application's recent functionalities have turned it into a real shopping site. So, on an image of a model posing with a bag, jewelry, clothes etc., you can now see the price directly displayed, and be redirected to the e-shop. You can now directly see the price displayed, and be redirected to the e-shop.
The desire for immediacy and novelty has never been stronger since the advent of Instagram.
If Instagram has become so popular as to replace fashion magazines, it's because it has enabled a real democratization of fashion. Today, major fashion shows are no longer reserved for the elite, and live shows and stories on Instagram give direct access to all brand events. Instagram's unprecedented proximity to its users generates a community that develops a special affection for a particular brand.
Instagram has made it possible to break down some of the barriers built up by the big fashion magazines with their sometimes overly inaccessible images. In effect, the big luxury brands have entered popular culture. Styles once reserved for a more affluent segment of the population are now available to the masses.
Instagram is all about immediacy, novelty and spontaneity. All the big influencers and most popular brands on Instagram will tell you: you have to post regularly, constantly feed your page, respond quickly to customer requests and so on.
Fashion everywhere, for everyone, all the time.
If you want to work in the fashion industry and learn more about the latest innovations, ISAL Paris offers you the opportunity to several types of training that will enable you to join major companies that have made Instagram their main sales and communication platform.
