Instagram's top fashion moments in 2016
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It's become more and more apparent in the fashion industry for digital influencers to have power in this business. Largely due to Instagram and its mass amount of users, social media has been very apparent in fashion this year.
Between hashtags, collaborations, fashion show announcements, and store pop-ups; no other social media tool has been more effective in visual story-telling. Because of this, Instagram has taken the reins as fashion's most accessible social media platform. In 2016, the app was used frequently for various fashion news events. FashionUnited has taken a look at this year's top fashion moments in Instagram.
Alexander Wang
New York-based designer Alexander Wang chose the popular social media platform in order to announce a collaboration. He teamed up with musical performer The Weeknd for an exclusive collaboration. Wang and the the “Can’t Feel My Face” singer exclusive takeover, using Instagram to show off some of #WangXO. When Wang posted this, the post blew up and became a source of fashion news for Coachella and the entire festival weekend. The post showed how even high-end designers such as Wang have given up traditional forms of press to announce their collections. Now, choosing a personal, more direct way of informing customers, Instagram allows designers to go straight to the source.
Rihanna
As no stranger to social media, R&B singer Rihanna used the app also to debut a collaboration with Puma. Now known popular as Fenty x Puma, Puma’s sales reportedly went up after partnering with the music singer. This comes a no surprise as Rihanna has a massive Instagram following, up to approximately 46.9 million users currently. According to the company’s brand, “Key footwear styles such as Creeper and Fenty Trainer sold out within weeks or days.” Her status and promotion of the brand on Instagram was likely part of the reason her footline has been so successful in the fashion industry.
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker also had a breakthrough moment with the visual app. When she started the SJP collection in 2014, she Instagrammed herself overstepping the chain residents on 66 Perry Street to promote the line. Now coming full circle, she has announced her first move into retail with the collection’s debut standalone store. In her post she states, “Today I reveal every detail of our long held secret! After many trips on @amtrak to DC, on-site construction visits, meetings on design and curating a very special collection we are opening our first standalone [flagship] inside the brand new @mgmnationalharbor.”
Tommy Hilfiger
Besides making waves this year with his new collaboration with Gigi and choosing Los Angeles over New York for fashion week, Hilfiger also explored fresh avenues in social media. He implemented its first ever "InstaPit" at New York Fashion Week, where Instagrammers were able to capture the Fall 2016 collection from a special spot for the show. The section was exclusively filled with digital influencers with a couple thousand followers as a minimum requirement. Model Stefanie Giesinger, with over 2 million followers, was a member of the InstaPit along with influencers Caroline Daur and Celine Aagaard. The fact that this “pit” was introduced at a high-end fashion show tells of the influence and important of Instagram in the fashion industry in the present day, even if some of the influencers don’t have a pertinent interest in the show. “Of course, these people have influence, but too many of them do it just to put pictures out there of themselves,” she Aagaard told W Magazine of the pit. “They’re not interested in the clothes. That, I think, is really bad.”
Bella Hadid
Nearing the end of 2016, Hadid has also announced her own clothing line through the social media app. Following in her sister’s footsteps, it seems the Hadid sisters are turning to fashion and retail in their careers. Both have an impressive social media following (Bella with 8 million followers and Gigi with over 26 million), which further stands to prove why Instagram would be the favorable choice for launching new lines. As Bella has worked with Chrome Hearts multiple times, her post relayed that this would be her first time working with the brand as a designer. Her post so far has gotten the attention of 344K likes.
Yeezy
The social media coverage of Yeezy Season 4 became a new story in itself, even more so than the collection. Although the collection was popular among fashion elites, the events of the show were more distracting to members of the industry. Models fainting and standing in the hot sun for hours caused for many to Instagram and show off various “unfair” treatment of Kanye’s models. Many took to Instagram to show off these injustices and express their outrage of the show. Due to Instagram’s popularity, attendees were able to instantly share their side of the show, including the models fainting, which became a huge news discussion on if Kanye’s clothing line should even supported.
All of these moments were made possible through Instagram and the versatility of the app. With over 500 million monthly active members, according to Statista.com, the app’s power in the fashion industry is undeniable.
As Instagram has become more of a visual storyteller with Instagram Stories, it's likely that the app's popularity will only continue to grow in 2017. Used now as its own form of news, Instagram has become a viable force in the fashion industry.
Photo: Fenty Puma Facebook