Fashion Evolution

Ann Taylor Loft Fall 2010: Preview Collection Event

The knowledge of fashion and trend has grown increasingly over the past 5-7 years at groundbreaking speeds.  I have been seeing this evolution for some time now but recently I read an article in WWD (Women's Wear Daily) about Ann Taylor and their "new" direction for Loft, which enforced the observation even more so.  Television programs such as; Project Runway, America's Next Top Model, Sex and the City and The Hills have exposed the fashion industry to a younger generation that now views the industry as a common career path.  Attending art school for college is now being seen as a normal and practical choice, when years ago most parents would have begged and pleaded with their child to attend a more formal college for a proper education so they will not become starving artists.  

I have loved fashion from a young age and always treasured the moments when my mom and her friend would bring me along to go shopping.  At the age of 8 is when I began drawing clothing. I say drawing not designing because I would simply draw clothes that I saw and liked onto a figure and make an outfit.  I was far from original and definitely not daring in my fashion choices.  As a child born and raised in the suburbs of NJ, I did what most kids did, I wore what everyone else wore.  The end of middle school I began to pick up on trends a little earlier then most and would venture out of the comfort zone.  But for a suburban raised 14 year old that was deciding to wear a flared jean instead of wide leg painters jean that everyone else had on.  In high school I was aware of designer names and watched fashion shows on the style network, if I happened to catch it while flipping through channels.  But still I looked like every other kid in my high school: wearing jeans, abercrombie and j.crew.  It wasn't until my senior year of college(art college) that I started to really get it!  I was religiously buying glossy fashion magazines that you could only find at bookstores, digging through style.com to see every look to come down the runway of every show.  I began to really look and live the world of fashion and the deeper I dug in, the more obsessive I became.  Now, my entire world revolves around the fashion industry.  Everything I do or say or think is influenced by the industry.  This is the case for most people in this line of work.  But for my generation and the generations before me, it wasn't until we started our career in fashion that we knew as much as we do now.

I share my evolution with you because for the high school, college and even middle school aged people, fashion and its world is like second nature for them.  I look back on my high school years and think of how lame my wardrobe was and wish I had the knowledge and guts to be me.  But when it comes down to why I was lame, its not because I didn't have the confidence to pull it off; its because I wasn't exposed to it like we are today.  Kids now have reality shows, teen vogue, fashion shows being streamed live through the Internet.  The fashion industry is apart of their pop culture.  Whats even more interesting is that its not just the "city" kids that are being influenced and actually wearing forward fashion.  I grew up in NJ, so I was near NYC and visited frequently.  I had the exposure of a city, but someone like my mother who grew up in a small beach town in Michigan did not have the influences that I had.  Today, kids living on a farm in Kansas know who Marc Jacobs is and wear skinny jeans.  The mid western high school-er may not be wearing the new Proenza Schouler tie dye but she has seen it in Teen Vogue!  And the city kid not only has seen it, but owns it and even blogs about it! 

I'm not the only person that has seen this evolution, it doesn't take a genius to see that fashion is much more influential now then it ever has been before.  Hence why Ann Taylor is bringing their Loft division into a new frontier.  They are evolving their customer with the aid of her influences and exposure.  White House Black Market is also another brand that is transforming their design and stores to have a more "boutique" feel to them.  J.Crew which I have mentioned before, is also transforming their image because their client is much cooler then she was 10 years ago.  Even popular teen shows have adjusted to this overwhelming take over.  I was a committed Dawson's Creek supporter but they were far from fashionable on that show.  The O.C. (R.I.P.), Gossip Girl & 90210(2.0) all use fashion as an extra character.  Brand names are dropped into dialogue as well as popular high end department stores.

The exposure of the fashion industry has made it much more main stream.  Not only has it made the 14 year old in Kansas way cooler then I ever was, but it has also created more competition for them once they get to this already insanely competitive career.  The t.v. shows and movies may make this seem like a glamorous and dream come true job.  Once you are on the inside, you see that its a lot of hard work, back stabbing and false illusions.  But that topic is for a whole different post.  The point is that fashion moves faster then it ever has before and in return the industry is scrambling around to move even faster then the fashionistas.  So next time you ride past a high school compare that fashion of all the kids to the pages of Teen Vogue or the latest snap shot of Miley Cyrus and you will see my proven point.

Ann Taylor Loft Fall 2010: Collection Preview Event