FASHION DURING THE DIGITAL ERA PERIOD

Abstract

Clothing is a credible expression of the aesthetic, artistic and emotional understanding of the taste and existence of each society. Fashion is a general term for popular style, especially for clothes, shoes and fashion accessories and refers to a specific but above all current trend regarding how a person looks and dresses within a society, and very often refers to the predominance of behavioral styles in it. Clothing provides information on a range of social and cultural functions, such as individual, professional and gender differentiation and social status. It is a clear indicator of cultural and social change in a society, both nationally and globally. Today, fashion is becoming a global, massive and extremely profitable industry and is a representative of the importance and place it occupies in the world – an indicator which shows that today fashion industry is one of the most represented and one of the most powerful industries worldwide. Fashion is one of the most challenging areas that is constantly changing depending on the wishes of its customers and moves in sync with time, events and changes. A huge challenge and change in the fashion industry occurs with the emergence and development of technology and digitalization, especially with the development of the modern phenomenon called "Fashion client", who thanks to social media manages to grow from a passive consumer and follower, to a key figure that can directly influence the determination of the most modern and current fashion trends. This process occurs as a result of the dissatisfaction of the clients with their own fashion status within the society, ie their desire to be part of the fashion industry and at the same time to be recognized and popularised for that. Consumers are no longer satisfied with just buying products, but want to communicate, belong, influence and be part of the group of fashion brands from which they buy. For this reason it is important to explain the impact of digitalization, technology and the global world on fashion today. Fashion is a socio-cultural phenomenon and thus reflects the real way of life, tendencies and events in society. With the development of the Internet, all major fashion companies make radical changes in their PR policy, ie they are forced, in addition to the standard fashion shows, to exhibit their models on specially designed websites (on the official brand, but also on social networks - Instagram and facebook) and make the simplest and most efficient buying process possible. This need is primarily driven by highly developed Western societies, where the time spent for buying fashion items is minimal but the economic power and desire for it is high. On the other hand, the pandemic in 2019 itself imposed a new market strategy by promoting the so-called "Online fashion". For this reason, a very cunning (but also practical) marketing strategy was developed that enabled easy access to the products, without the client being physically affected by their presence (constant rehearsals and waiting) at all. This way the buying process is maximally facilitated. This is reason enough for global change in the world of the fashion industry, as such fashion platforms did not exist before. With the availability of social media for everyone, the fashion industry is gaining a new platform and greater publicity. In this way, the modern digital era in the XXI century implements a completely new type of fashion performance and undergoes a radical transformation – from supermodels with impeccable proportions, today fashion is often advertised by the so-called “fashion bloggers“ and “influencers“, who with their innovative fashion image open doors for a completely different not only fashion but also global world in general.