9. Michael Kors is first to sponsor an Instagram ad (#ulink_3a922f41-ca8f-5fb2-9cb2-d33d1d36a5a8)
Rule 2: Be aware of the impacts (#litres_trial_promo)
10. Death of the high street (#litres_trial_promo)
11. Fast fashion piles up (#litres_trial_promo)
12. Continuous sales are killing seasonal trends (#litres_trial_promo)
13. Siri is stalking our shopping habits (#litres_trial_promo)
14. Wear it once, resell it tomorrow (#litres_trial_promo)
15. Alexander Wang sues the counterfeits (#litres_trial_promo)
Rule 3: Be social (#litres_trial_promo)
16. The fashion blogging evolution (#litres_trial_promo)
17. The world gets hashtagged (#litres_trial_promo)
18. Fashion Pinspiration for the masses (#litres_trial_promo)
19. Vogue starts a social shopping trend (#litres_trial_promo)
20. Instagram: the good, the bad and the ugly (#litres_trial_promo)
21. The creative directors conquer Instagram (#litres_trial_promo)
22. The clothing-haul obsession (#litres_trial_promo)
23. The fashion news goes viral (#litres_trial_promo)
Rule 4: Be culturally aware and diverse (#litres_trial_promo)
24. Admiring all shapes and sizes (#litres_trial_promo)
25. #TimesUp (#litres_trial_promo)
26. A cry for inclusivity and diversity (#litres_trial_promo)
27. Ban the fur (#litres_trial_promo)
Rule 5: Be innovative (#litres_trial_promo)
28. NikeID and the new customisation (#litres_trial_promo)
29. The fashion catwalk in your bedroom (#litres_trial_promo)
30. Sophia Amoruso launches Nasty Gal (#litres_trial_promo)
31. #CastMeMarc (#litres_trial_promo)
32. Rebecca Minkoff leads the connected-store revolution (#litres_trial_promo)
33. Virtual models in starring roles (#litres_trial_promo)
Rule 6: Be the first to adapt (#litres_trial_promo)
34. Fitness got trendy (#litres_trial_promo)
35. Netflix merchandise gets hyped (#litres_trial_promo)
36. The influencers design the collections (#litres_trial_promo)
37. Cara photobombs the runway (#litres_trial_promo)
38. The super-bloggers get the gig (#litres_trial_promo)
39. Burberry redefines the rules of the catwalk (#litres_trial_promo)
40. Susie bursts the fashion bubble (#litres_trial_promo)
Last thoughts (#litres_trial_promo)
Index of searchable terms (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)
About the author (#litres_trial_promo)
About the publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Introduction (#ulink_c48077bc-5571-5566-a929-62e6698b3b2a)
Who decides what we wear, how we dress and the way we define ourselves through clothing? Is it us? Do we decide our own take on style and self-branding? Or is it our audience, the passer-by in the street, the person in front of us in the coffee queue or our latest follower on Instagram? The rules of the fashion game have changed, and we are all having to learn the new tips, tricks and rules to play it successfully.
We live in a world where the majority dress to fit in with societal norms, and our clothing can offer an insight into our status, character, interests and our sense of what’s appropriate and what’s not. As humans, we have always loved to fit into a group to feel a sense of belonging, but the recent evolution of the Internet has had the most dramatic effect on the way we dress today. It has transformed the way fashion is worn, consumed, sold and produced. The majority of us no longer buy clothing for our own personal enjoyment alone, but for the admiration of those who observe or follow us.
Online fashion retailing has fascinated me since it was kicked up a notch in the early 2000s. I studied for my fashion retail degree at the University of Manchester in 2007 and although online shopping was rising in popularity, lots of people were still dubious that it would ever stick. I was sitting in a branding lecture while my lecturer scoffed at the idea that people would ever risk buying such tactile items on their computer. She believed that buying clothing online would never take off, but I was already seeing a trend: brands were increasingly developing online stores and I knew it was only a matter of time before more people tried it out for themselves.
Before I had finished my degree, mobile-retailing was already a realistic proposition and within a small space of time, the thought of shopping on my mobile became somewhat normal. Retailers not only had an online store to sell their products globally, but they could now promote and sell them from every mobile phone in the world. The question at that point was how exactly could a brand entice people to buy from their mobile app, and what could they do to enhance their customers’ enjoyment and experience? I was intrigued, so I started a three-year PhD to answer that very question.
My thesis investigated the purchasing decisions, behaviours and emotions of the fashion consumer shopping on mobile apps. After three fun and interesting years, I graduated, added ‘Dr’ to my title and found out that mobile retailing would actually be far more lucrative and essential for retailers than we had initially expected (among a lot of other things, of course, but we don’t have all day). But my findings were borne out over the following eight years, backed up by stats published in 2017, stating that 58 per cent of ASOS’s sales came from mobile purchases, and 70 per cent of their web traffic came via mobile. I’m guessing their mobile site was pretty great … they must have read my PhD. *I’m joking.*
(@inthefrow)
(@cgstreetstyle)
