Next Gen: Fashion, Music and Social Collide

Musical artists Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and now Iggy Azalea have helped music videos reclaim their power as musically-harmonized fashion platforms. Videos are selling fans not just on music, but on the icons and their trendsetting fashion statements.

Music networks such as MTV, BET and VH1 were originally created as outlets for music videos. Today these networks have changed course, placing a greater emphasis on reality television rather than music videos. Shows like TRL and 106 & Park have waned in viewership or have been cancelled and replaced with scripted and unscripted narratives like Punk’D, Awkward and Basketball Wives, among others. Though all these shows contain background music from the latest artists, this content doesn’t provide a strong platform supporting music videos or visual art.

In this social age, typically the first sight of endorsement of a brand or label by a musical artist is seen via Twitter rather than through music videos. In the past three decades before the arrival of Twitter and Facebook, we saw the likes of Madonna, Boy George and The Culture Club, and Janet Jackson creating music that not only aggregated millions of groupies and fans, but also set trends in fashion through their music videos. In the 80’s Prince made ruffled blouses paired with power shoulder blazers a staple. In the 90’s LL Cool J had everyone wearing one pant leg up. Today, with the rise of social media technology, the combination of music icons and fashion has come to a pinnacle.

Your favorite music artists are arguably admired just as much, or even more, for their personal styles than their actual music. We frequently see artists taking the place of models in editorials and in some cases on runways as style leaders, from Louis Vuitton and Pharrell, Armani and Rihanna or Adidas and Katy Perry. Even Reebok hired Rick Ross in hopes to re-emerge the brand as a fashionable sneaker in the urban community.

Enter Iggy Azalea, a newbie to the music industry recently signed to Interscope Records. Iggy’s curvaceous frame and sexy-sassy style has garnered just as much attention as her lyrical talent. Creating the world’s first experience with an interactive shoppable music video, the artist teamed up with Canadian fashion giant SSense to debut her latest music video “I Think She Ready” earlier this April. Using interactive hotspots, viewers can click on any of the looks on Iggy, featured artist FKi and Grammy-nominated producer Diplo for all the behind-the-scenes designer details from various spring/summer 2012 collections, including a link to purchase.

The female lyricist is adorned with a curve hugging Preen mini dress, winged Alexander Wang shades, and YSL shoes, but the most eye-catching piece is the Helmut Lang layered Helix dress. Just imagine, you can have Iggy’s exact ensemble, from the Maison Margiela cuffs to JBrand jeans, purchased and shipped to your home with a couple clicks of your mouse as soon as the video debuted on SSense.com. Fans no longer have to guess the brands worn by their favorite artists with all the information embedded in the music video.

“This is the first time the worlds of music, fashion and commerce have truly overlapped,” said SSense CEO Rami Atallah. “The integration we are introducing between technology, entertainment and retail with this video not only creates a unique experience for the audience, but also has utility. People often wonder what performers are wearing, where they can purchase that item - we have bridged that gap.” (source)

Social media gives fans immediate and direct access to the artists’ visual of the song — the music video. Additionally, engagement with the icon, whether you’re shopping their latest fashions or checking out their latest tweets, fans have the ability to completely bypass the old-school route of waiting for a video to air on an MTV countdown. Digital technology has allowed retailers to fuse music, fashion and commerce in one click.