Social Media and Fashion Social media has a HUGE influence on the world around us in this day and age, impacting in so many ways from affecting our mental health to impacting on the way we shop and dress. Like with so many areas of social media it’s still really hard to tell whether the fashion industry has changed for the better or worse but what we do know is that the influence it has had has changed the fashion industry for good. The majority of fashion brands around the world - such as high end brand Burberry or high street brand H&M - now use social media as their main tool to help promote themselves and their products to a wider audience. While this is great for the brands, it’s led to the rise of fast fashion and has brought body image to the front of a lot of people’s minds. Consumers crave fashion pieces posted online and worn by public Although there are definite negative impacts, social media also has had quite a positive impact on the brands within the fashion industry. Fashion businesses can pick celebrities and influencers that best represent their products and target market in exchange for promotion; these people influence their followers’ fashion choices as these products then be- come popular amongst them. Brands using social media can strengthen their loyalty with consumers as they can show behind the scenes and exclusives to make people feel privi- leged and create products based around what they see trend- ing; helping them head in the right direction to making profit. These platforms provide brands with stats and help them to track and see what their customer needs are. I surveyed students at HSDC for their opinions on how social media impacts their personal fashion choices figures, resulting in them adopting and moving on from fash- ion trends quicker than before. However over the years, this has resulted in a high demand for garments, putting extreme pressure on brands and the environment.
and the industry as a whole. The majority of my respondents agreed that their own personal style and preferences have been affected and that they have purchased a clothing item after seeing it on social media. Over 85% of those surveyed said that they follow some form of fashion influencer on social media, be it a public figure or a small content creator. This proves that the influence social media has on the fashion industry is extremely large, be it positive or negative. Overall, the media heavily influences our fashion decisions as we feel the need to join the latest trends and buy clothes that we have seen in the people we follow online. All of this has hugely increased the amount of profit fashion brands make, the the number of new customers they receive and the amount of pro- motion they can use. However along with this, the world of fast fashion has rocketed, causing the natural environment to suffer slowly with things like pollution and landfill. It’s still undecided whether social media is viewed as the saviour for fashion brands or the evil to the world.
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