The future of street style How will one of the most important sectors of the industry survive the digitalization of Fashion Weeks?
Over the last few weeks, there have been announcements of the digitization of several Fashion Weeks, currently, the only possible solution in times of pandemic, an alternative inaugurated by the Asian FW, the first to be strongly affected by the spread of COVID-19, and now also adopted from the Fashion Weeks in London, Milan and Paris. While doubts persist as to what extent digital events can actually replace physical ones, another aspect of these events, which has become increasingly central in recent years, must be also considered: street style.
As time went by, the pictures taken outside the shows have gained an increasingly important value, not only for aesthetic reasons but above all for commercial reasons: those shots are the basis of trend analysis, market research and influencer marketing operations. In light of the latest developments, and in the context of an industry that needs and has been asking for a radical restructuring for some time, it is right to ask ourselves what the future of street style photography will be.
A transition year
One could summarize in these words the thought of many street style photographers towards the future of their job, the upcoming months will be difficult, empty in some ways, but they will not mark the end of this sector in its entirety. "Although the situation is very bad and the future is uncertain for everyone, I think the street style will survive the crisis, just because it is part of the industry, part of the fashion circus", has declared to nss magazine Julien Boudet, a world-famous photographer, a fixture of shows and backstage, as well as the author of the last Prada Resort campaign. "I think street style photography is one of the elements that create excitement around fashion weeks, especially among the end consumers on social media and I personally believe it’ll survive the current crisis" agrees Jeremy Alvarez, a well-known photographer of European FWs. Convinced of the survival of the sector as well is Su Shan Leong, a photographer always travelling between Seoul and Paris. "Street fashion has always had an impact on consumers and fashion trends. After the lockdown, people might end up dressing up more because they miss not doing so during the lockdown. Additionally, the effect of this pandemic might bring about a new concept and amplifying the interpretation of fashion trends; such as dissecting and reworking protective garments, fabric manipulation to ensure comfortability, structured garments, interpreting nature in prints, silhouettes and concepts."
According to Raimonda Kulikauskiene's vision, what has been achieved is a very unstable balance between creativity and pure business. "We all shoot more or less the same girls every year and they are dressed up in the same brands. They are working a lot of course and they're trying to be very creative, and I like them all a lot and I honestly think that it is not easy work. it is just so big now and sometimes look overdone a bit. Brands themselves are spending a lot of money and using a lot of resources to make the shows and I think this should be done more thoughtfully. And you know at the same time it is a chain, that's how it works, that's how we all earn money. So it is not that easy to change something, you really really have to want that, but the chain is so long here."
Finally, for Alexandre Gaudin "there’s gonna be a rethought of Fashion Week for a few times until the end of the pandemic. In the long term, I think it will be back to the normal because Fashion Week it’s a good opportunity to reunited every people from fashion in once."
