Social Media at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

Social Media is everywhere nowadays.  With almost everyone in the world having some type of social media account, it is not just a trend; it is a whole new way of connecting and interacting with each other.  Tweets and status updates give followers up to the second updates of their favorite celebrities and industry figures.  Thanks to these new technologies, previously closed-door events are now open to public viewing and critiquing such as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which takes place twice a year in one of the major fashion capitals of the world, New Year City.

Within the last four seasons, a season being the new spring or fall collection every six months, social media has taken a more dominant role at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (MBFW).  MBFW now has their own Facebook and Twitter pages so everyone can follow the action as it unfolds live over the course of fashion week.  Social media has a huge impact on how fashion followers can keep current with the industry.  Even before fashion week starts, MBFW releases productions pictures and schedules of the tents at Lincoln Center, the heart of MBFW, being built.  The day of the each show, MBFW sends updates about daily schedules of the different designers and what tent they are showing in.  TwitPics show the latest fashions as they march down the runway and show off celebrity sightings of who is at what show.  MBFW tweets about the latest announcements as they happen in real time and unveils all the surprises of fashion week.  What use to be exclusively seen and read about in newspapers and magazines the next day now all happens in real time.  Social media helps followers feel as if they are sitting right there, next to the runway.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City is just the beginning for social media to connect more people to otherwise limited or closed-door industry events.  Video game conventions like PAX East in Boston, Massachusetts are starting to tweet on the official PAX Twitter page with insider info for their show.  The E3 Expo is doing the same thing but has partnered with GameTrailers to have them be the exclusive tweeters for the show.  E3 has gone even further by having Spike TV's Games & Gadgets be the official cable TV provider.  Social media is going to get bigger and better as the technology evolves and I for one am very excited for the increased interaction and coverage that social media can provide to otherwise inaccessible events.