How Generation Y Is Transforming Fashion Now
Dec 9th
Raymond Chu, a 20-year-old NYU student, doesn’t follow fashion trends. He preferred military jackets and three-piece suits a la Indiana Jones and Fred Astaire in high school, and was always considered overdressed. Now, instead of mockery he receives praise from friends and strangers alike. Repeatedly featured on street-style photography blog The Sartorialist, and chosen as a 2008 finalist for Esquire’s Best Dressed Real Man, Chu feels flattered by the recognition, posting these photographs online for his 1,000 Facebook friends to view.
From Facebook to Twitter to blogging, Generation Y live their lives online—and nowhere more so than in fashion. In this public celebration, camera-loving Gen Yers post outfits, clothing and inspiration on the Internet, using this platform as a way for the fashion-minded to share ideas. With the unlimited possibility of the web, Generation Y has made fashion more influential, more accessible, and certainly more global.
“Fashion is no longer a one-way street to consumers, but now a two-way street,” says Susan Cernek, senior fashion editor for Glamour.com, the online counterpart to the magazine.
The Internet has drastically shortened connection time, and communication is now instantaneous around the globe. If traditional print magazines rejected online components, they would be far behind the times. Still, with the never-ending flow of online outlets, many readers look elsewhere to find their daily dose of fashion.
Tweeting with the Stars
Oct 27th
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Generation Y Twitter users connect to their favorite celebrities by following their tweets.
Lashing Out Against Kanye
Jaws dropped and boos ensued when Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech at the Video Music Awards last month. From A-listers sitting in the audience to the millions of viewers watching at home, the venting began immediately, many channeling their anger via Twitter.
Katy Perry, who was nominated for the same award that Taylor won, instantly tweeted from her cell phone: “F- U KANYE. IT’S LIKE U STEPPED 0N A KITTEN.” Pop star Pink, another nominee, also condemned Kanye with a cell phone tweet. Within seconds, their words were received by millions of followers, many of whom were also online typing similar updates.
“Everyone tweeted about it,” says Austin Vanaria, a 20-year-old Tufts student who had received Perry’s update when writing his own, directing his flared temper into 140 characters. Twitter forges connections between celebrities and regular people, creating an intimacy and immediacy that makes these untouchables become touchable. This unprecedented connection is the reason that Gen Y is flocking to Twitter—to follow their favorite celebrities whether it’s Jimmy Fallon or Lindsay Lohan. “It makes you feel connected to celebrities and other people in real time, even if you’re not with them,” says Vanaria.
Tear Down this Cyber Wall
According to a Quantcast Corporation study, almost half of Twitter users today are Gen Yers between the ages of 18 and 34. “It’s the newest medium that introduces the feeling of getting closer, and creates this sense that direct communication [with celebrities] is possible,” says Lisa Gitelman, a media historian and communications professor at NYU Steinhardt. “By paring it down to 140 characters, you feel like you stripped away all the pretenses.”