As trends seem to travel at warp speed, fashion magazines such as Vogue and Elle, which have traditionally been looked to for guidance on style, are struggling. The September issues, typically the biggest of the year, are nearly a third slimmer than last year’s. Ad pages in Vogue decreased 36%, to 429.
Some of that money is moving to the Internet. Louis Vuitton North America more than doubled its digital ad spending in 2008, to $286,000, from $107,000 in 2007, according to TNS Media, a New York-based firm that monitors advertising spending in media.
And why not? The Internet makes it possible not only to read about fashion but to participate in it. The use of sites that enable users to create their own fashion spreads, share photos of themselves in different outfits and elicit wardrobe advice from their peers is skyrocketing.
“Between new technology and the economy, the fashion industry will never be the same,” New York designer Norma Kamali said. “It makes you stand back and say, ‘If I continue doing what I’m doing, I may not stay in business.’ It’s time to rethink and look at what’s working and what’s not.”
One tradition that’s being rethought is the semiannual New York runway show, which typically costs a designer $200,000 to $300,000 to mount. In July, the Council of Fashion Designers of America held a meeting in New York City where the relevance of fashion shows was discussed, along with their exclusivity (they are not open to the public).
No doubt the military style is one of those trends that come and go with the seasons and it always returns with new features. In the past, celebrities have worn them too: Madonna in one of her music videos (American Life) or Demi Moore in the movie G.I. Jane.
This year, Shanghai has succeeded in being labeled the “Paris of the East”. Having hosted the most prominent runway shows of Summer and Fall 2010, John Galliano added to the mix on Saturday with the Christian Dior Cruise 2011 Show. A flirtatiously-styled “Parisian Chic” is what the Dior Cruisewear show brought to China’s rapidly-growing fashion capital. Galliano’s fashion house is the latest to make a major splash within the Chinese luxury market.
A seaside cafe… and Chanel Saint-Tropez was abuzz with a stylish outdoor crowd for Chanel’s harmonious Resortwear Collection Show 2011. Clean-faced models strolled barefoot along the natural runway of the Riviera, wearing endlessly colorful, lightweight garments as graceful and poised as the beach itself.
