Runways, hip trends, and glamour – the fashion industry has often played a dominant role in human society. From skinny jeans to fabulous dresses to the latest trends in the fashion scene, who doesn’t want to rock some trendy outfits and look great while doing so? Even in the olden days, people would tune in to reality fashion TV shows or flip through glamorous magazines to stay in trend with the latest looks of the fashion world. But with the coming of the digital age, the fashion industry as a whole seems to have undergone some changing trends itself – namely, it’s meshing with the similarly dominant and encompassing industry of IT.
Much like with most industries in an increasingly digitized world, IT has increasingly become an important aspect of the fashion scene; opening new doors to the world of fashion that otherwise seemed virtually incomprehensible just a few years prior. Gone are the days of poring through physical magazines for the latest summer look, or wading through physical stores, knees-deep in skirts and shirts and dresses, to find the sleek and chic ensemble you’ve always wanted – with IT has come to a paradigm shift of sorts in the workings of the fashion world, and the younger, digitally-savvy Millennial generation of fashionistas seem to be eagerly embracing the change. Across the years, things like backup solutions Malaysia and remote IT support services have become practically invaluable to the new, digital workings of the current fashion scene – so without further ado, here are 3 ways IT has become a vital aspect to the fashion industry.
E-Commerce (Livestreaming, Mobile Commerce, Etc)
Ah, good ole’ online shopping – where would we be without you? With how prevalent the practice has become, it probably goes without saying that e-commerce has become the dominant way to shop in the 21st century; and shopping for clothes is certainly no exception. Why venture to physical malls and outlets, your arms full to bursting with outfits, when you can do all your fashion shopping from the home? Not to mention the seemingly endless variety of outfits on display for your perusal and purchase in the expansive world of the Internet – hardly restricted to the handful of choices commonly available in brick-and-mortar establishments, you can find and order outfits from as far as the other side of the world…provided you can handle the shipping costs, that is.
But the novelty hardly stops there. Obviously, the world has become pretty accustomed to the practice of online shopping; with online orders and delivery costs becoming practically commonplace. But that doesn’t mean IT infrastructures haven’t stopped expanding horizons in the world of online fashion shopping – for example, on top of ordering online through your computer, advancements in mobile commerce have made on-the-go shopping from your smartphones a very real possibility. Also, never seen a fashion ad on television and thought to yourself: aw man, I wish I knew how many sizes that outfit came in so I could know if they have my size? Well, with Livestream e-commerce making its rounds lately, in which live merchant models, explains, and answers questions about their wares live, you can ensure any queries you have about fashion-related products will be answered almost immediately.
Social Media
The diffusion of information across the globe has honestly never been this quick. With social media becoming a dominant social phenomenon and means of communication across the world, and the quick ability to share, repost, and reblog posts faster than any mail or magazine can deliver, the latest trends in the fashion industry can reach millions of people way quicker than the comparatively traditional mediums of magazines and even television screens. I mean, how many times have you scrolled past a fancily-dressed model on Instagram, or a celebrity marketing their latest fashion line on Twitter? And with the ability to embed links to shopping websites on these posts and ads themselves, social media ensures a rapid method of reaching fashion audiences around the world and therefore the rapid diffusion of chic fashion trends. With social media, fashion companies can now create global fashion trends and sensations faster than ever before.
Remember, though – social media doesn’t just make it possible for businesses to create trends. Nowadays, with how simple it is to post pictures and share them in and across platforms, anyone may make accidental waves in the fashion world by doing something as simple as posting a picture of themselves online. And this makes it pretty important for fashion companies to jump onto certain bandwagons as they’re happening.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a pretty hot topic these days across the world – I mean, we’ve all watched the Terminator movies, right? However, a far cry from the murderous killer robots that permeate our TV screens, AI in the fashion world can actually help companies immensely, in all types of ways. Remember the problem situation identified above? Well, AI has you covered – business companies can actually use certain types of AIs to crawl the digital scene, over e-commerce sites and social media platforms, to collect and analyze massive amounts of data and pinpoint burgeoning fashion trends as they happen.
And that’s not all. AI algorithms can also help businesses tailor products and websites to match the tastes of specific customers. For example, AI can help customers more easily find fashion brands and products that match their previous purchases and therefore tastes, leading to a much more streamlined and satisfying shopping experience.
From online shopping to social media to AI, it’s pretty evident that advancements in IT and it’s accompanying IT support services have made marketing, selling, and shopping for clothes a much more efficient process. So we can probably safely say that IT has become quite the important backbone of the fashion industry in the current digital age.