from magazine to blog 360° revolution – Mon Chou

from magazine to blog 360° revolution

The affirmation of fashion from the origins of the printed paper to the innovation of the blog has overturned the traditional communicative reality in the last century. The Internet has truly overturned some key concepts of the old way of doing journalism. The technological reality produced with the development of the digitalisation of information has generated the phenomenon of Web 2.0. What distinguishes the new paradigm is the affirmation of a culture capable of generating and conveying innovative contents and interpretative keys to reality through the internet and social media. One of the sectors that has best been able to grasp and use the impact of these tools in a productive manner is that of fashion which, thanks to the help of modern communication strategies, has managed to integrate social networks with the means of communication already existing like printed paper. With the birth of Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tiktok, anyone can express their aesthetic point of view when it comes to fashion. In recent years there has been the birth of a new publishing system, based on the creation of web pages updated in real time, with a high level of visibility and low cost, used for sharing various types of content and which are becoming increasingly successful and global power: blogs. Born as diaries on the web, blogs have proven over time to be an effective tool for competing with traditional publishing, not only due to their immediacy but above all thanks to the ease of finding information. Furthermore, the birth of social networks, gaining an authority equal to other means of communication, has changed the way of communicating fashion, an exclusive privilege for years of the paper magazines in the sector, elevated to true institutions of the Fashion System. Analyzing the Italian side, the change starts from Vogue Italia, directed by Franca Sozzani who in February 2001 arrives on the web with the aim of creating a new sharing with readers, an original way to try to break down that wall that has always placed a clear division between those who make the magazine and those who read it. What the magazine is trying to create is a new method to make users/readers who are becoming more and more demanding and who want to be involved at 360° more involved.

 

With the birth of communities, forums and social networks that make communication increasingly participatory and open, Vogue Italia decides, through the website, to transform itself into an online editorial team, through which readers are accompanied behind the scenes: how the fashion shows are created, who takes care of the photo shoots, which models are selected, which new trends to follow; these are some of the questions that the digital version of the magazine aims to answer via the Web. From a brand reloading perspective, the first steps taken by the magazine focus on social networks, used as new communication channels that never lose sight of the style and purposes of a brand that has been regularly on newsstands for years. New technologies do not only modify social relationships, but also the method of using language. The form of writing becomes more flexible and streamlined, it loses the solemnity and rigidity to which it was linked in the past and begins to glimpse new ways of use. A phenomenon that is felt not only in the context of traditional social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, but which can also be found with the birth of blogs online. The blog revolution produces an interesting evolution in the concept of traditional journalism. Today, we are even increasingly witnessing the spread of the figure of the Fashion Blogger/Influencer, that is, he or she who uses their passion for fashion as a more direct and immediate tool of communication, allowing a vast audience from different social contexts to get to know the world of Fashion and Street Style in depth. They are surprisingly influential, they dictate the rules of fashion, they are creators of collections for the most important brands. The definition of Fashion Blogger/Influencer, however, has evolved over time, going from young people often without journalist passes to access the front rows of the most sought-after catwalks, to women, and today with great surprise also men, who immortalise their outfits in a series of shots and poses more or less likely to be shown online to the world, preferably during exclusive events organized by companies or through press offices. It is not a technological event that causes discussion in the world of research, but an event that guides the transformation of society in all its forms. Questo, rappresenta perciò, la dimostrazione che la moda per sua natura incline a dettare e seguire nuove tendenze, non può restare inerte alla rivoluzione digitale e come lei, anche i suoi lettori diventano i protagonisti di un contesto che con il tempo è riuscito a creare un universo di infinite possibilità.

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