The future of fashion is now.

Amid the frilly haystack rumpus at Chanel, the sexed-up Grace Jones warrior at Pugh and Balmain, and the return of laid-back sportswear basics at Stella emerged one more new runway trend: the fashion industry’s full-blown plunge into the world of technology.

Now that we’re [finally] entering the recovery phase after this financially catastrophic past year, perhaps it’s the frenzy to make up for lost time that has turned the concept of social networking into such a lucrative opportunity for designers.  The international reach of platforms like Twitter and Facebook, when paired with the instantaneous nature of blogging, creates a monster of a marketing opportunity for companies when they so desperately need results, and quickly.

As concluded in last month’s “Future of Women’s Fashion” panel in NYC, the fashion industry’s only way forward is to make fashion accessible to more than just a privileged select few.  We hope this booming foray into the internet will provide the push toward democratized, humanistic fashion that we so crave.

Read the full story {NY Times}

At last night’s “Future of Women’s Fashion” panel in New York City, editors Cindi Leive and Robin Givhan (fashion editors at Glamour and the Washington Post, respectively) and design voices Isaac Mizrahi and Ashley Olsen met in front of a varied audience to discuss several questions about the fashion industry: namely, why do so many people hate fashion so much, and what can be done to bring them in?

Among the night’s conclusions was the idea that, for fashion to survive, it must be seen no longer as something shallow and frivolous.  This means the industry can no longer “[coast] on trendy handbags and trendy shoes,” but rather must work from the inside out to offer intelligent, beautiful design that speaks to (and includes) a multitude of people — thus becoming something more democratic.  We say: let the fashion revolution begin.

Read the full story {The Huffington Post}