“The fact that...[bloggers] are not experts is misleading and their blogging isn’t accurate. It dilutes the message of the store or the designer. Some bloggers are really credible and good. My issue with the bloggers is that they don’t have the authority.”
Stephanie Solomon, vice president of fashion direction at Bloomingdale’sI wondered, who does Ms. Solomon think has the authority? Especially coming from someone who works at such a huge retail company, I found myself thinking she was crazy. Who has the authority if not the wearers/consumers themselves? If a trend doesn't fly for the "real people" of this world, it's not going to sell, and Bloomingdale's will suffer--no matter if their fashion director, who, I presume, has this elusive authority, endorsed such trend.
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| a stylista captured by both mr newton and the sartorialist, helping to propel the return of 70s wideleg trousers |
Fashion has always been a balance of looking at what is happening on the street and wanting to push things forward. In the day and age of blogs and sites like Chictopia, the not-often-talked-about influence of REAL people is finally coming to light. Anyone who doesn't recognize it is quickly being left in the dust!
Even Bloomingdale's slightly-less-stylish sister, Macy's, has an open mind...
“There’s something to say about celebrity power and blogger power. It influences businesses. It’s not just who designs [the clothes], it’s who wears them.
Nicole Fischelis, group vice president and fashion director at Macy’s Inc.
Not only are bloggers helping to propel trends, they're also influencing how current trends are executed. As Barbara Atkin, VP of fashion direction at Holt Renfrew, Canada, put it, "People are adapting a look and seeing how to wear it immediately...social media will affect how we buy and it will affect our deliveries." This idea of the fashion industry being "swallowed up by social media" is quickly becoming unavoidable, but, if used correctly, it offers an extraordinary way for retailers and designers themselves to learn how to make their items more appealing to the "real world," even continuing to interpret them after creation by altering merchandising to speak to shoppers' desires.
So, who do you think should, or does, have the authority in fashion? Are bloggers taking away power from designers and retailers, or helping to advance fashion itself? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
