Good Essay On The Relationship Between Fashion Media And Personal Identity

Introduction

Since time immemorial, many people in different communities embraced various fashions as identify with their culture, age, personality, gender, social class and even social status in the religious and cultural realms of life. Although this has been so, different fashion designers have identified effective ways of communicating to their target population by using television and print media to send informative and creative messages to their clients. As indicated earlier, some people identify their personality and images by putting on different fashions of clothes, jewelry, and shoes depending on the weather, occasions, and times of the day to mention but a few. With regard to this insightful overview, the paper seeks to give a descriptive analysis of how fashion, media, personal identity and image are related and influence one another.

Communication strategies of particular designers

Elle Fashion designer, an American-based firm, which has been in the market for various decades, has used different communication strategies to reach its target market. Categorically, the firm has used pictures of celebrities and other people to showcase their variety of lines of fashion, which are worn during various seasons and at different times of the day or occasion. The designer has used the coding and decoding strategies to give symbolic meaning and explain meanings of symbols as a way of luring their clients towards specific lines of fashions (Sherman 1). As that is not enough, the designer has opened a communication portal where potential clients are able to give their feedbacks or seek clarifications on specific products of fashion they have bought or they seek to purchase. Ideally, these feedbacks has helped the designer in improving the quality, price and quantity of various lines of fashion the designer stocks. Considering that various consumers identify with specific cultures, which in turn determines their mode of communication one can use to access them, Elle Fashion designers has established that for it to pass a message to the youth, then it should use social or print media, while television are majorly used to target the elderly.
The designer has made good use of point of sale communication strategy whereby lines of designs including shoes, jewelry, jeans trousers, tops, t-shirts, sweaters, and jackets have been shelved and displayed in an appealing and creative manner to lure clients to purchase them (Marcela and Alvarez 28). This strategy of communication seeks to tap into the psychology of a potential client and induce him or her to make an impulse purchase. It has not been used by Elle fashion design alone, but other designer such as Lowdtown Friends and Freaks designers has embraced its use.

Selling strategies used in selling lines of design in the last season

Various designers are using different marketing strategies to expand their product market as well as retain existing markets in order to remain relevant. Notably, Elle Fashion designer has used celebrities such as Kanye West who, in 2010, was used to showcase one of the hoodies designed by Elle Fashion designers. In such a case, the designer seeks to lure some of the celebrity’s fans into becoming their clients. Alongside that, the designer has used celebrities such as Jessica Simpson, who have also contributed to the fashion industry by showcasing some of the designs they have made. From such a show, Elle designer seeks to tap into the potential of these celebrities by stocking some of their designed outfits and using them to advertise for various lines of designs (Sherman 1).
Online marketing and specifically the use of social media has been profoundly used by designers to create awareness of their different lines of design as well pass information regarding the products they are selling. For example Elle Fashion designers are using Twitter, Facebook, Google plus, and Instagram to reach their potential clients. Notably, the designer posts ads of new lines of designs use the platforms to indicate prices and make different offers based on seasons, nature of clients, and the type of design (Sherman 1). It is only the use of social media that designers have been able to understand the preferences of consumers because the site allows effective and constant communication between the designer and the consumer.
Ray (1), the owner of Lowdtown Friends and Freaks designers elucidate that the use of television and print media is not effective in creating awareness or improving the brand in the fashion and design industry because the majority of fashion consumers are youths. It should be important to note that this population prefers an interactive mode of communication rather than a non-interactive one. Apart from that, they are conscious about their personal identity and as such, they would opt for another means of communication to show what they prefer. Elle designers noted that the use of television and print media should be specific or be used to target specific clients; for instance, Institutional television platforms or magazines should be used to target the population within that institution.

How lines of fashion sell particular images to target population

For years now, Levi designers have been known to be makers of stylish and classy outfits for the youth. The firm specializes in making jeans wear for men and women, seasoned clothing, and occasional outfit, which identify with the personal image and identity of the youths. The designer is known for making tight and fitting lines of products that are preferred by the youth especially for specific occasions or weather or season.
Christina Walthall designer based in Los Angeles and specializes in women outfit for college students. However, she spends sometime designing men outfit for specific clients on orders or for special occasions. Many of clients who utilize her products are of the opinion that the designer makes modern and unique outfits preferred by the majority of youths in colleges (Felix 1). Other designers such as Ralph Lauren’s line of fashion are designed to bring out the leisure and luxury image in those who consume the products. Indisputably, consumers who opted for putting on leisure summer outfits bought their designs from Ralph Lauren’s designers because they are associated with luxury and leisure. For this reason, the designer has priced the outfit differently, depending on the season, nature of clients, age and gender. The main motive for this price segmentation is to maximize profits and give various clients the value of their money.
Kiel James Patrick Designer is located in New England, but designs jewelry, which penetrates the North and South American markets full of youthful populations (Kurutz 1-2). To ensure that the designer remains relevant in the market, they make men and women outfit especially seasoned designs to compliment the sale of jewelry. In most cases, consumers prefer categorizing designers with their quality of outfits and price they offer to the market and for this reason; many identify product quality with specific designers who embrace their image in the society.

Communication channels they use to reach their audience to have their lines of fashion noticed

Many designers opt to use a communication channel that will be effective in reaching their potential audience to have their lines of fashion noticed. Verbal communication has been known to effective because there is immediate feedback from the receiver and that distortion of message does not exist. On the interactive platform of Elle fashion designers, the designer and the consumer have a chance to engage in a video communication on online social media, which has helped the designer showcase their outfits (Sherman 1). Apart from that, during organized shows where celebrities entertain the audience, the designer reach given groups of fans and creates awareness of the lines of designs she makes.
Although written communication is an effective way to pass information to a group of people, many designers consider that it should be used to target specific consumers and not a wide range. For instance, Christina Walthall designer opted to use college magazines to reach a good number of students whom she targets. The channel of communication proved effective after the designer noted that her ten years’ experience in using it was successful. Lowdtown Friends and Freaks designers noted that the use of internet blogs and websites ads are the most preferred channels of communication he uses because they are less costly and taps into the opportunity of youths who prefer updated information about various lines of designs (Ray 1). The designer acknowledges is the best in the fashion and design industry because the majority of consumers are into using it.

Conclusion

Concisely, fashion, media, personal identity and image are related in such a way that various designers use different media platforms to create awareness to consumers who identify with a given image. In such a case, the fashion designer has to understand the preferences of the target population, use appropriate media platform to reach them and finally sell their products. In the above descriptive analysis, it is evident that various designer make outfits that defines the identity of given consumers and hence their culture. The media has also been effective in linking specific consumers with the designer depending on the age, education level, socio-economic and socio-cultural status of consumers.

Works cited

Bortotti Favero, Marcela, and Francisco Alvarez. "Integrated Communication in Retail Fashion: A Study of Integration Between Advertising and Communication at the Point of Sale." Journal of Arts and Humanities 2.2 (2013): 25-37. Print.
Felix, Megan. "Interview: Classy Teen Fashion Designer Christina Walthall." College Lifestyles. Shelly, Marie Redmond, 13 July 2013. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. <http://collegelifestyles.org/2013/07/interview-classy-teen-fashion-designer-christina-walthall/>.
Kurutz, Steven. "Designing a Perfect Summer: The Designer Kiel James Patrick Evokes the Perfect New England Summer." New York Times 2 July 2014. The New York Times Company. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.
Ray, R. "How to Advertise and Market Your Clothing Line." How To Start A Clothing Company. Double Dragon Studios, 4 May 2009. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. <http://www.howtostartaclothingcompany.com/advertise-market-clothing-line/>.
Sherman, Lauren. "Why Some of Your Favorite Fashion Designers Also Happen to Be Celebrities." ELLE. Hearst Communications, 8 Oct. 2014. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. <http://www.elle.com/fashion/news/a15053/why-celebrities-make-succsessful-fashion-designers/>.