Future Fashion Shows - Assignment Example

Future Fashion Shows Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 2 Introduction 3 Defining fashion show 4 Role of the Media 5 Celebs and Fashion Show 7 High Cost Designer Garments and Apparel 8 Fashion shows still relevant/ Fashion shows no longer Relevant 9 The Future of Fashion Shows 11 Conclusion 12 Bibliography 13 Abstract This paper looks at fashion show from various fashion trends in the past, and how men and women in the past used to appreciate the beauty through the attires and accessories they wore. Many communities will be explored including giving the English concept of beauty, the African concept of beauty, and encompassing even other concepts of beauty across the globe. The main aim of the paper is to study fashion and beauty across these tenets to have an exhaustive examination of the relevance of beauty to different cultural settings, their inferences and appreciation of beauty. Is fashion a trend or a culture? These are some of the questions that the paper will be seeking to address. Myriad issues such as the role of the media and celebrities in dictating fashion trends especially in the contemporary society will be investigated. The paper will use relevant examples, analyses and promotional endorsements on the spread and obsession with beauty, especially among the young stars. According to Gottelier, "Fashion is not simply a matter of clothes; fashion is in the air, born upon the wind; one intuits it" (Gottelier, 2012, p.36). Issues such as what motivates them when they choose the kind of clothes and beauty accessories will be discussed. This paper looks at examples and the experiences in the past, compares them with the current trends, and uses them to predict, or analyze future trends. Fashion and beauty adherents will find this paper very useful, insightful and informative. Introduction Since time immemorial, man has always been inclined to beauty and accessories. In fact, instances of beauty are recorded even in the Bible. The concept of beauty is as old as time. People have always relied on other people’s perception of them. They dress to look the part, and probably to please themselves. In the past, women were especially associated with beauty. Many are the hours they could take behind their closed doors choosing what best accentuated their physiques. They would match their apparels with well-chosen accessories. Those days, the media had not taken central stage in depicting beauty or at least setting the standards of beauty. In the current world, however, these have changed. Different forms of media seem to take center stage and perhaps set the standards of beauty, which begs the important question of what is the role of the media in influencing the hype and craze with beauty and fashion show? In any case, different designers for their various unique talents have used the fashion shows as marketing platform. Today, everywhere people turn their head to, they will be sure to see an element of fashion and design; of beauty and accessories. One then wonders about what the future of the fashion industry. What can be expected? Read on to have an exclusive coverage of these fashion dynamics. These issues will be discussed in great length in the subsequent sections. Defining fashion show Fashion show refers to how people use garments, apparel, accessories, and other beauty items to express themselves. It makes them confident and acts as a way for them to express their unique identities. Fashion trends keep changing perhaps due to creativity and innovation. Research shows that women are more preoccupied with research than men. As such, fashion show has always been defined as elusive, always changing and extremely seductive. Fashion shows have the power to convert an image and stress a social statement. It determines how people relate with one another in the society. In the contemporary world, fashion is culture. It denotes the prevailing custom or style of behavior or dressing. Different clothes can have different fashions in their makeover. For instance, a swimming suit can have different designs such that the latest will be the current fashion. To other people, fashion is a form of art. Most people get creative and use clothes, accessories, and hair to either show or hide something about themselves. People can dress to express their personalities such as soccer fans, golfers, and skaters. Fashion statements can be emphasized through accessories, cell phone, clothes, hair, shoes as well as make-up. The digital age has specifically helped fuel the craze with fashion shows. People share pictures of the latest designs through Instagram, Facebook, and other social sites. They get to influence each as well as “compete” for the latest trends and designs in the market. Role of the Media The media have played a powerful role in marketing different fashion designs. Perhaps this emanates from the fact that most people, now than never before, can access TVs, fashion magazines, recorded fashion shows, social media, among other media that expose beauty. Different media channels seek to spread an element of beauty that most people will identify with. For, instance, today, most fashion houses spread the ideal images of having the right shapes as lean and muscular for men; thin and curvy for women. This is far different from their portrayals in the past when men just had to be “strong” and the women had to be curvy. Perhaps, in this regard, it can be argued that the media has helped fuel the various perceptions of beauty. Again, this hype should vary from one community to another. Today, the youths and fashion enthusiasts rely so much on the media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and other outlets to help them get “acceptable” standards of fashion and beauty. In the Instagram, for instance, model guests are very common. Different media different fashion icons. Marketers find online media platforms such as Facebook handy in marketing their products. Perhaps this emanates from the fact that people consume what is projected unto them. Given that most youths, or just anyone with craze for beauty would want to relate with their fashion icon, it is no doubt, therefore, that fashion household names such as Anna Delta Russ come into the mind. She has enjoyed diverse levels of media coverage. Perhaps this is due to her style, structure and décor that most of her adherents would want to identify with. The media use such beauties obsessed with particular fashion brands not only to get clients for their product, but also to market these beauties or fashion icons and what they have to offer. Just as Alexander once mentioned, “Celebrities are the next frontier in marketing” (Bryant, 2006, p.15), this is exactly what can be observed in the modern trends of beauty. The youths would want to follow these steps. Media images have an effect on perceptions of self when people internalize those cultural appearance standards. These internalized look ideals represent personal goals and standards against which an individual can judge themselves and others. Thus, internalization of these ideals becomes a critical mechanism of explaining how the media can influence perception about the body with respect to fashion show and craze for beauty. The media is just one aspect of appearance culture that has the potential to shape the progression of internalized appearance ideals as well as body image among the youths. It is important to look at critically at the central role played by experiences with peers in internalization, as well as body images concerning the critical period of adolescence and youth. Peer involvement thus plays a crucial role in adjustment and well-being of the youth and their hype with fashion show and beauty. Current research shows that there exists two perspectives of peer experiences considered to contribute to body image and internalization; conversions with peers and concerning appearance and criticism from peers about appearance. Conversion in appearance occurs when one focuses on appearance-related issues, emphasize on the significance of and value of appearance to intimate friends, and endorse the edifice of appearance standards. It is, therefore, important to look at general talks about appearance between men and women. Jones (2008) argues, “Daily encounters with friends offer a platform to attend, construct, and interpret information pertinent to appearance concerns. Peer disapproval concerning appearance is a critical reality in people’s lives” (Jones, 2008, p.53). Fashion industries seem to be alive to this fact and use the media to market their different products. Celebs and Fashion Show In the recent past, many a celeb have been endorsed with different media houses and fashion industries as part of a marketing gimmick to sell or advertize their products. The recent past has witnessed celebs such as David Beckman advertising different sportswear, accessories, and apparel, in a move that has mostly been seen as a win-win for the marketers and the celebrities they endorse. Fashion shows can be argued to be relevant in many dimensions. However, fashion shows at the present vary from fashion shows in the past. In the past, garments were worn to depict various cultures and cultural affiliations. Different societies wore different attires to influence their perception of beauty and social intrigues around it. Today, this situation is quite different. There are perhaps more guest and press coverage, which changes the whole concept of the fashion industry. Looks like today, fashion industry is much corrupted with alien ideas and a paradigm shift of the ideal standards that were appreciated and cherished in the past. Today, the fashion show organizers and the media make media coverage of the fashion show more significant. In fact, the fashion show organizers use the media to boost their sales since they portray different ideals of beauty that the beauty and fashion adherents would want to stick to and copy. To fashion show organizers, the hype around beauty and the right “body and shape” are greatly used to influence people’s perception with beauty. Fashion shows such as Vogue have a great way of influencing the youth to adopt acceptable beauty standards. The magazine takes note of the glamour and craze for beauty that most people would have. They then use this to their advantage. This is especially evident in the fact that following every well-publicized fashion show, there are usually renowned publications such as Forbes that seek to cash in on the hype of fashion and design. The newspapers make the headlines about the fashion shows, and the adherent followers would only want to “cash in” on what is new and trending. Everybody gains; they get to know about the “new arrivals, while they get the media coverage that is useful in subsequent advertisements and referrals. High Cost Designer Garments and Apparel In the current society where the youth have great crave with fashion and would literary want to buy whatever is new in the fashion market, the designers and promoters are making a kill by hiking the prices of the their various fashion designs. Usually, this is after notable celebrities have displayed the clothes. There is hype around celebrities that promoters use to gain visibility and market dominance. As a result, the fashionable clothes, shoes, and other accessories are usually highly priced (Bye, 2010, p.39). The designers seem to be working round the clock and are always coming up with new designs every day. This phenomenon makes the fashion industry to be fast-paced and sometimes predicting the next fashion designs may not be easy. The youths in the contemporary world are fashion perceptive. They want to try their hands at various designs. They have different tastes and preferences and would want to experiment with new labels and designs. This is usually after such designs have been highly publicized by the media. Perhaps the major reason why the prices are sometimes unreasonably high is to cater for the costs of promotions, endorsements, and advertisements. Some of the fashion items on display are meant only for particular segments of the market such as the high-end markets. This means that only the rich and super-rich can afford them (Goworek, 2001, p.16). However, in the recent past, other players in the fashion industry have become creative and produce fashion items and accessories for the low-end market clientele. Competition among the youth seems to make a demand for various fashion items and get high; thus, prices are likely to go higher. The costs could also be influenced by factors such as transportation costs, cost of materials, customs taxes, labor, and logistics (Cobweb Information Ltd., 2000, p.710. Overall, despite the high costs, the fashion industry is still thriving with no signs of dwindling sales. Fashion shows still relevant/ Fashion shows no longer Relevant Perhaps it can be argued that fashion shows are still relevant in the contemporary world. In any case, it is during the fashion shows that new designs are showcased and debuted. Designers need publicity and visibility that they can only achieve through fashion shows. Such platforms offer them an opportunity to invite guests, most of whom are notable figures with “good” shapes. Buyers of the various designs in the market need to be convinced that the fashion really works; perhaps they also need guidance on what matches and what does not. Through run-away shows and other fashion showcases, they get to advertize their different wares and get the very much-needed clientele (Stevenson, 2012, p.14). Media accompany fashion shows since the press coverage is what the designers want. They want to be illuminated to the rest of the world. This way, they gain reputation and meet business partners, endorsers and promoters of their fashion products. What is more, various social sites would want to take advantage of such fashion shows to advertize their products. This presents a win-win situation because the products will be online and given their huge number of followers on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. Renowned designers such as Giorgio Armani take advantage of such shows to market their unique brand identities (Diamond et al., 2000, p.23). The celebrity endorsements during fashion shows give an edge to the designers and organizers of fashion shows. If anything, they increase brand visibility, and therefore aid in marketing of the products. Finally, the fashion shows organizers sometimes have corporate social responsibility, which means they give back to the society part of the proceeds they get from the sale of their fashion products (Hoffmann & Coste-Manière, 2012, p.69). As regards why fashion shows are no longer relevant, some of the factors that can be mentioned include the fact that they less attention to the garments one wears. For instance, most of the youth do not observe what they wear. Some of the apparel and accessories they wear go against the norm of the communities they come from and indeed threaten the social fabric. This is because some of the fashion designs can be inappropriately too revealing, which means that they expose too much flesh and have an element of nudity. Given the youngsters consume what they see; this sets a bad precedent in the fashion industry (Brannon, 2010, p.11). It leads to lose of morals. Given the high costs of advertisement and organization of the fashion shows, sometimes it may not be as profitable as the designers had expected. Maybe they forecast high sales following the fashion shows, only to be rudely shocked that they cannot meet the projections. In worst cases, designers and fashion event managers have made terrible losses. Fashion shows interferes with cultures in fashion shows as mentioned in previous sections (Brannon, 2010, p.36). Thus, they undermine value values and strong societal norms and ethics. There are entrepreneurs who do not prefer fashion shows and instead sell their own home-tailored clothes, apparel and shoes in retail stores. These are usually cheaper and pose stiff competition to the rather expensive designs in designer shops. Fashion shows are not available to any up-coming designer; they are only available to the well-known designers who can meet the financial costs of launching a fashion show (Brannon, 2010, p.13). The Future of Fashion Shows Perhaps due to the stiff completion, it is easier to predict the future of fashion shows. Designers will have to work round the clock to be more creative and come up with fashion brands that will meet the ever-changing fashion trends of the youth. They have to invest in research and development; study consumer behaviors to predict what will work and will not (Streissguth, 2012, p.81). They will have to involve analysts and fashion experts to be able to predict the dynamics of the fashion industry. Organizers may as well have to employee logic steam that they will deploy to different segments of the market to collect information about diverse variety of accessories and garments; sample comments, views from social media sites, and project the likely changes in trends and patterns in the future. They can test different designs this way and come up with a comprehensive view of what the future holds (Hines & Bruce, 2012, p.76). Since the fashion industry is a multi-billion dollar enterprise, there will be a need for creativity and innovation in order to succeed in the future as well as maintain the profits. Fashion industry players may want to use the available data to predict the future. A major short come of this method is that data is usually prescriptive, and may fail to recognize what influences trends in the fashion industry (Gottelier, 2012, p.41). The fashion industry no longer entails just buying the garment. It means buying beauty that some pundits have likened to celebrity, punk exhibition, and music. The modern customer is more complicated and has to be understood in terms of tastes and preferences. To survive in the fashion industry in future perhaps players will have to increase the number of variables and parameters. A lot of research work will be involved to look at issues such as duplication of designs and fashion trends (Hines & Bruce, 2012, p.57). Conclusion Fashion show is without doubt a global multi-billion-dollar enterprise that has is as long as time; only that fashion trends have changed to the traditional conservative styles to the contemporary world’s more dynamic and liberal trends. The media have influenced these variations, the digital age and endorsements of celebrities as well as well orchestrated fashion shows. Fashion defines beauty and personality. The youths are especially concerned with beauty and fashion. The media have fueled the hype and craze with the fashion, thereby providing a platform for various designers to display their talents. Without doubt, fashion trends keep changing, and it can be predicted that the trends will get more complex in future, requiring creativity, innovation and extensive research on the part of the designers and other players in the fashion industry. Bibliography Alien Fashion Show (Musical Group). 1998. Alien Fashion Show. Encinitas, Surfdog Records. Bell, A. 2004. Fearless fashion. Montreal, Lobster Press. Brannon, E. L. 2010. Fashion Forecasting. New York, Fairchild Books. Bryant, A. 2006. Fashion Frenzy. Lexington, Ma, Between Productions Bryant, A., Campbell, C., Rankin, E., Hernandez, R., Turpin, B., & Yen, J. 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