Fashion Forward: Brands Moving from Supermodel to Everywoman

Haute couture brands recently have been in the headlines for promoting an unhealthy body image, mourning the loss of one of fashion's brightest stars and, in general, dealing with a full-blown identity crisis. Meanwhile, an increasing number of mainstream brands have turned their attention explicitly to the end consumer: she now plays a central role in how we view and buy fashion. This reinvention and democratization of fashion has its origin in the mainstream, unlike most trends, which work their way in from the fringe.  Moreover, it's a global phenomenon with brands from Japan to Germany embracing the everyday woman's new role.

Tokyo Fashion Map

Uniqlo's 2009 Spring Parka Campaign centers around an interactive (now defunct) Web site, featuring 1,000 women and men photographed on the streets of Tokyo in Uniqlo parkas.  They are inherently different individuals, expressing their personal style (and lifestyles) in the various ways they wear and accessorize their parkas. While the map unites these 1,000 strangers through a shared fashion choice, it also highlights their differences, listing the other brands that make up their outfits so others can emulate the looks.  Tracing urban life with the help of one branded clothing item certainly takes the idea of ingredient brand to a new level. 

Meet the Muses

J. Crew's March 2010 catalog pushes the envelope further. The brand invited associates, friends, and acquaintances who embody J.Crew's style (without looking "branded") to participate in their catalog and in an online feature, titled "Who's That Girl?"  To put it in the retailer's own words: "Who better to model our clothes than some of the women who inspire us every day?" Haute couture brands, take notice! These women aren't mere clothes hangers. J. Crew showcases their personalities and lifestyles by asking them questions about work, love, and their personal style.  They are real women with real lives, real needs, desires and beliefs, not the glossy, over-exposed, yet impossibly removed supermodels of yesteryear.  Intriguing as their individual handwriting suggests, the women encourage us to linger on the site and ponder as we browse: are we Molly, Dianna, Lily or a bit of all of them? One smart content strategy!

Ich bin Brigitte (I am Brigitte)

Germany's fashion magazine Brigitte takes the most drastic step yet.  On the market for more than 50 years, the bi-weekly stopped engaging professional models for its photo shoots at the beginning of 2010.  Instead it features everyday women, ranging from an Icelandic 45-year-old jewelry maker presenting evening dresses in her homeland's rugged landscape to a 30-year-old German architect modeling beautifully structured and daringly colorful work outfits.  More than 30,000 women have already submitted their information in the hope that the editorial team and the readers will select them to be one of the next "models."

Many in the fashion industry, particularly the high-end clothing designers, have vehemently opposed Brigitte's move. And while the debate has focused primarily on what is and is not a healthy body image, Brigitte's decision does more than diversify the depictions and definitions of female beauty in the fashion media. It diversifies the form and function of fashion publications themselves, and the degree of engagement they can offer readers. Brigitte asserts that fashion magazines no longer must merely present fashion. They can be travelogues, autobiographies, human interest pieces and fashion statements all in one. As a reader, I cannot wait to see who is up next, where they are from, what their life is all about, and how they express their personality and perspective through fashion.

Whether photographed on the streets of Japan, interviewed in clothing catalogs, or featured on the pages of fashion magazines, everyday women are bringing a new dimension and a fresh point of view to the fashion industry. They can be our sisters, friends, coworkers or neighbors -- a fact that compels us to look closer and engage longer. Many fashion designers are understandably worried that, with each inch the curtain is pulled back, more of the mystique and allure of their trade disappears.  But, the truth is, we've always trusted the opinions and admired the personal style of those we know best. Fashion is a business like any other, and if engaging more with the end consumer breathes new life into the industry and helps the bottom line, keeping everyday women out isn't a luxury fashion brands can continue to afford.