When examining or reflecting on the impact social media has on the fashion and retail industries within the last several years, there is a limited offering of a candid and public forum of discussion in Toronto. Most of the talks I’ve had about this topic are in casual passing with other bloggers or colleagues engaged in the online and fashion worlds. There are many websites that offer analysis of the technological and financial changes in these industries but rarely have I had the chance to see public debate on this topic.
Therefore, it didn’t shock me when the organizers at Social Media Week Toronto offered a panel discussion titled, Having @Style, Social Media and Seismic Shifts in Fashion, I and many others jumped at the opportunity to snatch up the limited free tickets for the Friday morning event which was said to be the hottest ticket in town.
The speakers:
The moderator: Jyotika Malhotra, Editor-in-Chic of Exshoesme.com
Speaker #1: Susan Langdon, Executive Director of the Toronto Fashion Incubator (TFI)
Langdon touched upon the mandate of TFI as a support and mentorship organization for budding Canadian fashion entrepreneurs. Her main focus was talking about the guidebook developed by TFI which gives step-by-step instructions on how entrepreneurs can build their brand online. Langdon also highlighted a section of the guidebook that identifies types of people who use social media. They are categorized as the:
- Creators (fashion bloggers, content originators)
- Critics (comments on other’s postings)
- Collectors (gathers shares info, retweets)
- Joiners (wants to connect with others)
- Spectators (seekers and readers of content)
Speaker #2: Cherie Federau, Owner of Shrimpton Couture
Cherie’s presentation took a practical and modern approach looking at how social media helped to build a business that reflects her personality and passion for vintage clothing and accessories. She has such a personable, lively and honest manner which had everyone in the audience smiling and laughing at her frank omission of learning the social media ropes (learning-as-you-go) and her recollection of the many interesting client/customer relationships.
I was so engaged with Federau’s presentation that I ended up jotting down three pages of notes. She provided several useful tips on how people should approach using the Internet when building a business and brand, such as:
- The world is your market
- Find your voice, be who you are and be true to yourself
- Mind your manners
- Don’t be elitist
- Be consistent
- Don’t be afraid of competition
- Share the love
- Don’t be a baby
- Set your boundaries
- Expect things to go wrong
- Create an experience
These tips are all common sense and self-explanatory driving home the message that interacting with people online is just as important as meeting them face-to-face.
Speaker #3: Alexandra Palmer, Senior Curator of Textiles & Costume at the Royal Ontario Museum
As Alexandra Palmer took to the stage she opened her presentation with the statement, “I work in the past.” Her historical approach to the seismic shifts in fashion was a throw back to my university days.
There was a lot of information to absorb during this portion of the event, but I’ve always been fascinated with history of all time periods and topics, and hearing Palmer describe the progression of fashion throughout the ages was extremely intellectual and educational. I only captured a fraction of what she discussed in this paragraph but she traced the origins of tailoring clothing from moulded plate armour, to the symbolism of the buttons as a status of wealth and the advent of the zipper at the end of the 19th century used as a design element rather than for practicality.
Speaker #4: Lisa Tant, Editor-in-Chief of FLARE magazine
Social Media Week Toronto saved the big guns for last. Lisa Tant, Editor-in-Chief of FLARE magazine, was the final presenter and from the moment she sat down to speak you felt her confidence and insightful nature take over the room. She immediately stated to the audience that “FLARE is a brand and not just a print magazine.”
Tant’s talk revolved around Twitter and its uses for FLARE to communicate with its readers. Initially, she was against using Twitter and like most first-time users (myself included) questioned the benefits of sharing thoughts in 140 characters. Now, Twitter is the most frequently used tool for her and FLARE, and acts as portal for readers to provide instant feedback and to share information. To date, Tant has over 2,691 tweets logged online and has a following of 2,500 followers.
She provided numerous examples of how FLARE and herself use Twitter, and here are some she cites:
- For FLARE’s 30th anniversary issue, she tweeted about supermodel Daria Werbowy gracing the cover. Coincidentally, the 30th anniversary issue became the highest grossing cover for the brand.
- Advertising the Assistant Fashion News Editor position with FLARE on Twitter resulted in a flood of applicants from all over the country.
Overall, it was an interesting and thoughtful event. I would have really enjoyed longer, more in depth panel discussion with more audience interaction because there’s a lot to say about how social media is changing the fashion world.
Images taken by Kimberly
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