A primarily online movement challenging notions of audience and consumption, driven by social media itself, is the phenomenon of streetwear (Rajendran,2012). The pioneers of this movement have developed an entirely new strategy within the realms of commerce which arguably rivals the traditional fashion show format, known within the wider community as the drop (Elven, 20183). The technique, which is not linked to a specific season or fashion week, of generating desire creates an ever-expanding cycle of engagement and allows the brands themselves to become more flexible and innovative whilst communicating directly with the customer. In fact, Philosopher Giles Lipovetsky even goes as far as to argue that there is evidence across history suggesting fashion techniques socialise human beings (Lipovetsky, 1994). Certainly, direct engagement seems to be a successful tactic and the identification of this type of consumer behaviour as well as the new retail strategy developed in response to it, cites social media as a generator (Elven, 2018).
Increasingly, digital channels are being used by brands to communicate and engage audiences, from Prada’s Autumn/Winter 2018 catwalk show promoted in league with ‘Instagram’s first virtual influencer’ (Kadekova and Holienčinová 2018), to Burberry’s appropriation of a world record campaign to ‘de-throne’ Kylie Jenner as the most ‘liked’ Instagram post in 2019 (Newbold, 2019). Through a combination of drop culture, direct customer engagement and real word issues being addressed, the streetwear scene is indicative of a societal shift. Whilst physical fashion shows with front rows containing journalists and celebrities still occur, the future business model of fashion shows clearly exists elsewhere, within digital environments and without geographical restrictions. Alexandre de Betak has carved a successful career path out of producing conceptual multimedia fashion shows (Anaya, 2013) including the Jacquemus Spring/Summer 2020 show which took place in a lavender field, achieved the phenomenon of going viral (West, 2011) and was cited by The Business Of Fashion as one of the most memorable fashion images of the year (Fernandez and Guilbault, 2019). De Betak observed the drastic evolution of the fashion audience, citing the internet as a tool and changing the focus of the fashion showcase to become increasingly concerned with immediacy (Kent, 2020). Although technological ways of communicating ideas goes beyond live streaming, we are clearly moving into a more digitalised realm with the digital-first world bringing revolutionary forms of inclusivity (Lieber,2019).
With considerations of how future presentations will be consumed and taking inspiration from the streetwear movement by engaging with contemporary politics and culture: the fashion show has the potential to once again become a system of communication, leading the industry. Certainly, a digital runway experience poses interesting questions surrounding how clothing will be presented in the 2020’s, with the developing discourse between fashion and contemporary culture, the fashion show as we know it rapidly evolving.