Emily Chertoff - The Atlantic: There's been an unusual amount of existential angst among fashion critics lately. Yes, there may be more sympathetic groups of people in the world, but at this moment it's hard not to feel bad for them. After all, a lot of us worry about new technologies making our jobs obsolete.
Their authority had already been eroded by the advent of the style blog a few years ago. Now these writers worry they may become irrelevant as fashion brands begin streaming their shows online. Three or four years ago, runway video was a novelty move. Now fashion designers are starting to tailor their runway shows to it. In a review of Monday's New York Fashion Week shows, New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn sums up everything that has changed, and could
3 comments:
I find this article self centered, stupid, and close minded. I agree with the statement that video is going to change the fashion industry as we know it. And I can understand how the people who hold the power in the fashion industry might not like the status quo changing because it threatens their power. But other than self centered reasons I don't find any of the other arguments meaningful at all. If people want to wear crazy high fashion cloths then they will it doesn't matter if they are seeing it on a screen, in person, or reading about it. And if they want to dress "well" and not just to be the most up to date then they will still be able to do that. And as for worrying about how the rest of the world might start dressing "ugly" because we don't have highly paid fashion writers to tell us what to wear this season. Well that's a very odd thing to be worried about. I think people in ugly dresses is one of the least important things around. What about global warming, or starvation, slavery, or any number of other much more pressing problems?
I understand that it can be easy to trap one's self in a bubble and forget that the rest of the world doesn't have the same problems you do every day, but you can't expect the rest of the world to be in that bubble with you.
I see what you're saying Akiva, but there's something to be said about the progression from a live production to a show for broadcast. The priorities of the performance change based on the medium of display and use. It's important for the fashion houses to decide what the priorities are for the product - is it the reviews, the audience, sales, etc.
The medium affects the product.
Some of the issues that the move to video present confuse me. I understand that a model who has a good walk is not necessarily going to be hired to do a photoshoot, as those are two different looks. However, from what I can glean from this article, the switch to video means that runways will now be recorded, or something similar. Shouldn't this still require the same skill set as the normal runway? As long as you are taking video, and not stills, the movements will still be conveyed in the same manor as they were in person. I'm also not understanding what would be to tragic or gamechanging about getting rid of the fashion season. Granted, this is based off of my very limited knowledge. Also, I don't particularly see clothing becoming more 'ugly'. People's tastes aren't going to change just because fashion is now online, and a brand can create ugly or strange clothing all they want, that's not a guarantee that the clothes will sell.
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