Research Proposal-How Fast-Paced Online Environments are Changing the Trends in Fashion

Online shopping and online fashion have become progressively more popular in the last decade. Since the late 1990’s, an increasing number of consumers purchase increasingly diversified products on the Internet, making it a source to be reckoned with. According to CNET, a new report by Forrester Research shows that by 2014, online sales are expected to reach $248.7 billion, or 8% of the total retail sales in the United States. The most interesting aspect of this article is that apparel, accessories, and footwear hit $27 billion alone last year, a 17 percent jump over 2008. According to the article, Forrester expects this market to outpace that of overall online retail sales over the next five years.
While shopping and the Internet overall have become more sophisticated, consumers and so-called “fashonistas” are gaining instant gratification with quicker access to the newest trends. Rather than waiting for the next catalog or magazine to state what should be worn in the following winter season, shoppers can simply log onto twitter and read the latest tweet from Urban Outfitters: “It’s here… The Fall Catalog! http://bit.ly/d65nDa”. According to an article by Tim Jackson, there are some fast on-line fashion services that “post photographs from the runway shows at key fashion weeks almost as they are happening” (Hines). This immediate fulfillment to be the first to know what the latest trends are is like any other addiction, we want MORE, MORE, MORE, NOW!
Not only are consumers now able to discover the latest trends as soon as they hit the runway, they can also broadcast their opinions on blogs and other online forums. Before the first day of school teens can post on the fashion blogs or message boards what is “in” and “out”. They can give advice on what to wear to the first day of school or to the big dance. Fashion blogs are popular as the subjective nature of fashion encourages endless discussion. This type of widespread discussion can be both hurtful and helpful to new trends. While multiple blogs deeming a certain garment to be outdated or just plain ugly will certainly send it straight to the sales rack, some companies are using blogs as a way to reach out to their consumers online and build a community. Whether it is by starting a blog about a designer, asking for customer reviews, or becoming present on a social network, brands are engaging and listening to their customer blogs.
So the question is, what are designers and clothing manufacturers doing about this incredibly fast-paced online fashion environment? Surely there has been a dramatic change in the rapidity that trends are going in and out of style since the development of the Internet and online shopping. Through different methods such as interviews and surveys I intend to discover how the fashion industry is keeping up with the high-paced input and output of different fashion trends.