TFS Community influencing the fashion world? See Post #1 for related thread.

[fantastical]

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I apologize if this is already a thread, but I just wanted to know what other people thought about this both as a member of TFS, but also any members who are coming from a professional point of view. I have basically always wondered how influential TFS is particularly after reading part of this interview of Katie Grand from models.com on what she thought of the TFS community. (see below)

We all know that models, agencies, and probably even some companies check out TFS, but is it possible that our feedback on the magazines or the models actually could have an impact on them?

For example, since we all know that modeling agencies are very well aware of TFS, is it possible that if a new girl has a lot of people interested in her that she could maybe be put at the forefront of castings and things like that? I know that number of fans doesn't exactly translate into amount of work (ex. Cintia Dicker), I was just wondering the possibility.

The same goes for campaigns, magazines, etc.



Models.com interview with Katie Grand (excerpt

CM: That’s so fascinating to me because I think that everyone really perceives themselves differently but at the end of the day you must be aware of your influence over the public and the way people really follow what you do… Hearing you say just now that you didn’t have the confidence to “go there just yet” with these girls that you were inspired by… That is somewhat surprising…

KG: To a certain extent but then you do have those moments…and that’s the reason blogs really do your head in; the minute you start reading them you are just full of self loathing… I think what I learned from reading too much of TheFashionSpot is that the things that bother you are only things that you think yourself. I mean, if anyone had said anything bad about the Daria story from the last issue, it’s like, “Oh for God’s sake, she just looks like the most beautiful woman on the planet, shut up.”…Whereas there are other things that people pick up on and you’re just like, “ugh I know” … And those are the things that keep you up at night…

CM: So you read a lot of these blogs?

KG: I did on the last issue yeah. It became almost like an obsession because we were getting so many hits of people looking at stuff, to the point that I would just come in and say, “I’m just going to look at how many hits we’ve had today.” I wish we were like Topshop and had a weekly sales report of how many magazines we’re selling and where we’re selling them really well and all of that. You don’t get that until you come off sale six months later. You can phone Magma and say, “How many issues have we sold?” and you can see that Colette re-ordered three times… You get that information, but you don’t really get much guidance as to if something is doing well or not. So in this weird sadomasochistic way I became obsessed with TheFashionSpot and how many hits it was getting and then just got into that whole thing of, “well, I’ll just see,” and would literally stay awake at night getting preoccupied with what people were saying. It was a good experience, I don’t know if I’ll ever do it again…(laughs)

source: models.com interview

 

[Crying Diamonds]

This is a really interesting question that I have never really thought about before - do people really become influenced by what people on tFS say?
Obviously Katie Grand does.
I'm more intrigued as to whether people look at the feedback from collections and take on board the criticisms we make on them.

 

[rayoflight]

I sometimes (desperately) hope some celebrity or at least someone who works for them reads the stuff on Star Style and takes notes that next time no unflattering makeup should be given to Ashley Green for a red carpet event. For example.
But seriously, I think someone does read the comments on collections and campaigns, whether it gets to the upper management is a different question. There are rumors that some models are on tFs and follow their own threads, so I try not say anything mean or what could be misinterpreted.

 

[Shelton123]

I sometimes (desperately) hope some celebrity or at least someone who works for them reads the stuff on Star Style and takes notes that next time no unflattering makeup should be given to Ashley Green for a red carpet event. For example.
But seriously, I think someone does read the comments on collections and campaigns, whether it gets to the upper management is a different question. There are rumors that some models are on tFs and follow their own threads, so I try not say anything mean or what could be misinterpreted.

To quote (really, paraphrase) a model, I honestly forget which one and I'm very sorry for that, "any model that says she doesn't is lying"

 

[rayoflight]

Now I'm even more scared.

 

[retailqueen]

Garance said that Emmanuel came her to look at her old work. this website is probably the the best fashion database (all categories),

 

[Psylocke]

To quote (really, paraphrase) a model, I honestly forget which one and I'm very sorry for that, "any model that says she doesn't is lying"

I think that was Rachel Clark who said that? And also the mother of one model - I forgot which one, maybe Sessilee's? - said tfs was a great source for agencies and models to collcet their pictures because people on here were so quick to scan everything and gather news and information from all over the internet.

I'm sure tfs has an influence on the fashion world because it's a huge community after all and since the fashion industry has suffered from the recession too I think it's reasonable magazine editors and model agents would want to know what people's opinions on their products and models are and what they could possibly improve. And I think it's a plus that there are many people on tfs that have a big knowledge about the whole fashion industry or are even part of it themeselves but there are also many people that are just here as fans, which makes it even more interesting to see how either of these groups react to new magazine issues, new models, trends, etc.

 

[BetteT]

I do know that a lot of people in the fashion industry know we are here.

We hear from models all the time, when they want us to remove stuff and sometimes hear from their agencies, too.

But I'm not sure if we actually "influence" agents enough to make a change in what they do. But you never know ... tFS is certainly a huge collection of people who will voice what they like and what they don't.

Regarding stylists: I'm a small time stylist ... don't work on big campaigns or celebrities, mainly for catalogs and small designers and some personal styling. But I know I was drawn here by all the images. When you are working in a visual medium, you need to see as many ideas as you can. So I always come here for inspiration, to see the trends and to try to figure out what is going to be trendy next season by looking at the collections and some of the streetstyle threads. And, I especially like Trend Spotting because the members do the work and I can see it all laid out in threads for me. So, yeah .... in my little part of it .... I am influenced and inspired by what I learn here.

So, I would expect other stylists to use the huge archives we have here, from time to time. Probably some photographers and designers, too ... when they are seeking inspiration. But I would think that most of the top people are too busy to worry about thier own threads ... unless they are very insecure.

I think that Katie Grand was just in her "insecure" place (hard to accept that she's insecure, but, hey ... everyone is at some time) when she was reading us. She basically said that it just struck a nerve when someone noticed something that she was already nevous about. But .. maybe it just confirmed something she had already been thinking ... and maybe she would use that to do it better the next time. So ... maybe a tiny bit of influence ... who knows, for sure?

 

[gius]

Well you know that every haute couture season at Dior, there are complaints all around in the threads here and that Dior: The Borehouse thread was even created --and then what happened in that most recent show? Galliano finally sent something new! lol! So who knows.
It's much easier to come here to look for feedback, to see the hits to see what people are most interested in, etc. It's all in one place. Prada has their own myspace and there are comments..but discussions are never possible, like it is here. And nobody is going to check each designer's webpage to write a comment. It's too much work. It makes sense to come here.

TFS also seems to be like a breeding ground(?)... a training in fashion. A lot of people passing through, who would never get this much exposure to fashion on an international scale. This place is full of information, inspiration, everything... and covers fashion under so many topics: music, film, in the past hundred years or so, because obviously people do more with their lives than just follow the designers or editors. It attracts all kinds of people. People leave TFS changed, with new insights and perspectives, becoming knowledgeable about what they wear and what else is going on in the world.

 

[softgrey]

this goes back to what runner was saying in another thread about how some comments that are really dismissive and even borderline rude about a designer's work concern him...

because it is likely that a designer will find their own thread and read it...
even if they are just doing a google search they are likely to come across the thread...

so when people just say...
oh- i hate it!...
that is really insulting and almost hurtful...
especially if they don't have any reason or explanation of WHY they hate it...
if you EXPLAIN WHY- then you can have some influence because then the reader can think about what you have pointed out and maybe decide to change it...
but if you just say-
oh- i hate it!...
and don't explain why...
that really doesn't help anyone, does it???...

so- yes- it is possible that tFS has some influence...
but-
some posts have more influence than others, i would think...

...

* and in case anyone is wondering...
this is the reason why tFS has always - from the VERY BEGINNING - had a strict policy that we will not tolerate 'bashing' here...
because people actually do read it and it's really not nice...

 

[silk skin paws]

Good topic.

Many times I googled a word or model and tfs comes up in searches.

As for influence I don't know to what extent. I'm sure it does. It's like a huge encyclopedia of models, designers, photographers, trends, street style, behind the lens, etc

 

[fantastical]

thanks so much everyone who responded so far, it's nice to hear many different points of view


i agree that this is by far the best free fashion database on the internet

 

[Unknownpleasures]

I'd say that tfs is the most important internet fashion community in the world,so it obviously is influential.Although I don't know how influential it is or it can be

 

[Echoes]

so when people just say...
oh- i hate it!...
that is really insulting and almost hurtful...
especially if they don't have any reason or explanation of WHY they hate it...
if you EXPLAIN WHY- then you can have some influence because then the reader can think about what you have pointed out and maybe decide to change it...
but if you just say-
oh- i hate it!...
and don't explain why...
that really doesn't help anyone, does it???...

Opinions should never be censored. Sometimes you can't really explain exactly WHY you don't like something, you just know you don't. Or maybe you can't put it into words others will understand. When sites or threads are nothing but Rah-Rah, and ooohs and ahhhs with no dissenting opinions, they don't really serve a useful purpose as a cross section of society. It's like conducting an opinion poll and stacking the deck to achieve a desired outcome. That makes the poll virtually worthless.

 

[Squizree]

^ You're right, I'm no fan of meaningless comments like "I love this" and "How cool", because they're so empty. But comments like "I hate this" are just as empty. It's barely an opinion to be honest, it's more of a meanningless side remark. Not to mention those little comments eat up bandwidth.

I've definitely noticed tFS' popularity online and I wouldn't be surprised if we WERE influential, after all we ARE everyday people who view and buy fashion.
Listening to tFS would be the smart thing to do

 

[softgrey]

^ You're right, I'm no fan of meaningless comments like "I love this" and "How cool", because they're so empty. But comments like "I hate this" are just as empty. It's barely an opinion to be honest, it's more of a meanningless side remark. Not to mention those little comments eat up bandwidth.

no, actually squizree...
I'M right...
cause, if you check, i'm the one who said that...


my point is that it is perfectly fine to dislike anything...
but having a reason why is much more meaningful to people who are reading this site...
and also leads to MUCH better discussions...
which is what the point of a forum is, after all...
discussion...

...

 

[honeycombchild]

Designers, and brands do look at articles and posts on here for sure. You'll find almost all brands will set up Google Alerts in their PR departments and so whenever a new thread is posted concerning them they get notifications, and they view them, and review them. I know that for certain.

It's probably more the case with the magazines thread. They're viewed within the industry a lot, for many reasons. For what people think of content, reactions to cover stars, and a lot of the time it's about learning where the covers/images come from if they've been released before they are supposed to. As we have to credit every image posted it gives them easy reference to where these things leak/surface from.

Katie did also comment on tFS in an interview with Industrie magazine, and she wasn't exactly complimentary about it. She disregarded the mass opinion basically. Well, if I remember correctly.

 

[Crying Diamonds]

Yes, but though they may not point you in a considerate direction, I do imagine that reading fifty "I hate this." posts on your collection's thread would be the cause of no shut-eye that night.

 

[honeycombchild]

There are people's posts and opinions I always read and like to read, I think they offer up good opinions, and then are there those I just scroll past. I imagine it would be the same for anyone who regularly visits the forums to see comments on their label's work.. It's easy to see what an intelligent point of view and what's just a useless comment. They'll filter out what they think matters.

 

[mikeijames]

didn't dazed and confused magazine quote from these forums directly some time ago? it's having an impact with more than we think. also, one has to figure, love us or hate us, as a group, we're a pretty un-biased crowd here: you can follow one thread and it'll voice every opinion from "boring!! hate it!!" to the two hundred word exegesis on why it's the most profound collection of all time (guilty as charged). so it's a good pool of opinion.