As a public relations major, I cannot tell you how many times the term, ‘social media’ has come up during lectures. Outlets like Facebook, Twitter and especially blogs have taken the world by storm. Everyone is a part of social media whether he or she wants to be or not, and the fashion industry is no exception.

Over the last few years, blogs have become the new magazine and newspaper. With the fashion industry heavily reliant on media placements and editorial opinions, fashion has become a huge part of the blogosphere.

Designers and fashion houses have been hot on the new media trail by courting bloggers into their front rows with open arms.

‘Fashion bloggers have ascended from the nosebleed seats to the front row with such alacrity that a long-held social code among editors, one that prizes position and experience above outward displays of ambition or enjoyment, has practically been obliterated,’ wrote Eric Wilson in a Dec. 24, 2009, article in The New York Times.

Heavyweight bloggers, such as Tommy Ton of Jak and Jil, Susie Bubble of Style Bubble, Bryan Boy or even 13-year-old Tavi Gevinson, can now be seen front and center at major fashion shows, many only a few seats away from Anna Wintour.

One of the most influential features about blogs is definitely their way of disseminating information. Every runway show, fashion event and new product launch can be instantly critiqued, photographed and uploaded onto the Web. And what makes this so powerful is that once it’s on the Web, it is permanent.

‘Do I think, as a publicist, that I now have to have my eye on some kid who’s writing a blog in Oklahoma as much as I do on an editor from Vogue? Absolutely. Because once they write something on the Internet, it’s never coming down. And it’s the first thing a designer is going to see,’ said People’s Revolution’s Kelly Cutrone in the Dec. 24 New York Times article by Wilson.

Newspapers and magazines struggle with instantaneous news because of their limited distribution. Once the next day or month arrives, that fashion article is gone forever. And while blogs are uploading their information the day of, publications have to wait until the next day to inform the public.

Another aspect to consider is how blogs have shaped the fashion industry of communicating to the general public.

Bloggers are more relaxed and visual when it comes to writing techniques, giving readers a more comfortable and easier read. They encourage open commentary by allowing their readers to critique and discuss on the website itself. Cathy Horyn’s fashion commentary in The New York Times would not spark the same interest a blog would. Nor would its language be as relatable as that of a blog.

Writers have to go through editors to create an article that represents the standards of their magazine or newspaper. Bloggers, however, are their own editors and don’t need to uphold anyone’s standards but their audience’s. This kind of ethic gives bloggers their credibility and makes them feel more significant to us normal folk.

Bloggers are the new drivers of fashion and editors are in the backseat, going along for the ride. This new generation of tech-savvy fashionistas is changing fashion in a way that is both unpredictable and exciting — something the industry needs right now. And as this generation grows within our country, it is quickly making strides in Europe and Asia as well. This is world domination at its finest.

Vicki Ho is a senior public relations major. Her column appears every Wednesday, and she can be reached vho@syr.edu.

Published on November 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm