From the Streets

So I'm now in my last year of uni, studying International Fashion Marketing, which means one thing... dissertation time. I've been researching Social media marketing and the impact this is having on the Fashion industry including social networking sites, digital marketing and also blogging.

I've always been interested in the 'trickle up theory' in terms of fashion influences. Traditionally new trends/colours/shapes come from the key designers at the Fashion weeks, from here they are passed down to high street retailers which influence the current fashion trends of the mass population. Trickle up theory suggests the opposite- the innovators are the fashion forward people of the streets. With the rise of social media, blogging and street-style photoshoots, individuals are now able to influence the style of the masses and push out new trends which are often later imitated by fashion retailers and designers.

This is particularly evident in street wear, just look at the rise of sportswear and trainers in mainstream fashion. I believe that the popularity of Air Max for example (in womens fashion in particular) was not due to marketing directly from Nike, but from the early adopters and sneaker-heads out on the streets. A few months ago Net-A-Porter started selling premium leather Air Maxims on their site, which really does show how trainers have trickled up to high fashion's elite. Instagram, which has been big for street and skate wear right from the start, has had a massive impact on this because with Instagram everyone can be a fashion blogger right?

So anyway, during my research I came across an interesting article in The Guardian about London based trend forcaster Editd. What differentiates Editd from the big players in trend research like WGSN is their new technology that can analyse and compile data from the tweets and posts of the online fashion influential. Editd conducted research of social media throughout this years Fashion weeks for new trends for Spring Summer 14 and below are some of their findings...

• Gucci was the most talked about designer with 30% more tweets than any other fashion brand.
• Red was the most talked about colour, taking the spotlight away from black (although I'm yet to be convinced).
• 'Sport Luxe' was still the most talked about trend with 76% more tweets than any other.
• Street style and photos from off the catwalk are fast becoming as important as those on the catwalk.