Season after season the Fashion industry accepts new and innovative designs onto its runways and into the pages of the world’s bestselling magazines. Why is it that the only differentiation we ever see is in the garments themselves and not the way in which we view them? Thin, white, androgynous models have remained constant on our runways since the 80’s, whilst we’ve seen a spectrum of different shapes, colours and styles adorning them. The Fashion industry’s ideal of beauty is specific, unachievable and out of date. As Fashion communicators and promoters entering the industry, it is our responsibility to change the way people think about identity and beauty.

Fashion communication and promotion covers every area that translates Fashion to its mass audience. This includes the media, retail environment, photography, styling, publishing, advertising and many more platforms. As a professional within any area of this industry, you have a responsibility to promote fashion, beauty and identity in a positive light. Every image or piece of text which is broadcast to consumers gives out a message and you are responsible for ensuring this does not cause offence, make the brand be seen in a negative light, or include triggers which may put off customers. As a Fashion Communicator and Promoter, you need to ensure that all of your work reflects that brand accurately, as well as trying to give out a positively message about beauty and identity.

Fashion magazines are the main platform seen by the mass market. It is here where most of the responsibility lies for sending out positive message to the public. Working within one of these publications gives you the best opportunity to change the way identity and beauty are perceived. The way beauty is communicated varies within different Fashion publications.

In order for images to be received in a way in which beauty is seen as something universal and achievable, we have to consider the way in which it is transmitted within a publication. For example if a photograph has been created of a model looking ill or doing something harmful on purpose, it must be put in context in order for the audience to be aware that the image was intended to be negative. If these images were shown in a fashion story in a publication such as Vogue, which is known to be quite serious, they would have a negative impact on their audience. In order for the images to effectively display their intended message, they could be published on a platform such as iD, who are known for their sense of humour or irony.

Another issue faced by those working in advertising in print is the post production editing of photographs. This projects a false image of models people may aspire to, which is not realistic and completely unachievable. These shots shown in fig 3 display how much post production can change how an image looks. This is what makes the media and fashion publications project such a negative attitude towards the imperfect.

To achieve these aims, Communicators and Promoters must target the masses. This is because, as Earls writes in his book Herd: How to Change Mass Behaviour by Harnessing Our True Nature, ‘we are at heart a ‘we-species’, but one suffering from the ‘illusion of I’’ (Earls, 2009). The way we all think about beauty cannot be changed if only a few of us think differently. We are always subconsciously thinking and doing things because of everything else. All types of communication and promotion of the Fashion industry must change the way they show beauty and identity at the same time in order to revolutionize the way we think about the subject. Targeting ‘social influencers’ can also get people to change their actions. About 1 in 5 people come under this title, leading their social circles into fashions, taste and opinions.

Some brands have already made a step towards trying to change the way people think about themselves and what is beautiful. The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty was one of the first and key advertising campaigns which pushed the boundaries of what a stereotypical beauty model should look like.

‘Why does the social order feel the need to defend itself by evading the fact of real women, our faces and voices and bodies, and reducing the meaning of these women to these formulaic and endlessly reproduced ‘beautiful images’?’ (Wolf, 1991)

In-store environment is also something which can challenge the notions of beauty. Currently, shops display their clothes with the smallest sizes as the first products you see. Also, the majority of mannequins are stylised in such a way that they are elongated and impossibly thin. In order to make the in store environment somewhere more accepting to everyone and encourage people to shop there, the visual merchandising should be more accessible. The theory of emotional design suggests that ‘products and systems that make you feel good are easier to deal with’ (Norman 2005). Being bombarded with skinny mannequins and size 6 clothes is not something which tends to be accessible to most people and therefore does not make the shopping experience positive if you cannot picture yourself in the clothes. If individuality was considered more when

Overall, in order for brands to communicate responsibly, and change the way people think about beauty and identity, they need to consider many factors throughout their campaign. The main problem within the industry is the association of all things positive with being tall, slim, white and pretty – to be this beautiful is to be happy and successful, much like celebrities and models shown in the media. To change this notion, the industry needs to be more accepting of different people as well as different styles and fashions. As with fashion, the beauty ideal needs to change from the top. The brands which pioneer and set the trends that trickle down to the high street and the masses should be the ones who change their behaviour.

To change the way Fashion is communicated, we need to move away from the ideal of perfection so that beauty is someone that is not so exclusive. Consumer touch points need to be more accessible, promoting brands in a way that projects the idea that beauty is something which can be accessed by all types of individuals. This is something which will be more successful in brands which are accessible by most: high street shops.

A communication strategy that could be adopted by a high street brand such as Topshop is to include their consumers who challenge the notions of beauty in their advertising campaign. Currently, Topshop’s campaigns feature models that look like they could have come straight from the runway, but photographed in clothes meant for the general public. This can have negative connotations, as although the brand itself is accessible to most, it is advertised in a way that is only accessible to girls who look that way. To appeal to more consumers and promote the idea of individuality, street style shots could be incorporated into their campaigns. The campaign would be based on the idea of never seeing the same look twice, which would include the way garments are styled as well as using a variety of individuals of different ages, races and sizes. The advertisements would picture people of all different types of beauty styling their clothes in their own way, instead of a structured idea of what’s in fashion modelled by someone stereotypically fashionable.

Street style is increasingly looked to as style in-spiration by the masses as it is something which is achievable. This relates back to the idea of emotional design, as the brand would feel more inclusive and it would be a more positive experience to shop with and get involved with the brand.