A Campaign Stating Fashion is #OutofHand

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By: Dwayne W. Waite Jr.

Let's own it — the latest fashion trends out there have been dismal.

And that's the nice way of saying it.

Today's world is not focused on quality, but consumption. The "latest" thing. That was made clear during New York Fashion Week, where the creative and unique was trumped by the most recent and marketed. That creativity and usefulness is squeezed out of the market by those designers and fashion houses that can pour product into the market as fast as it can, and calls its product the start of a trend.

These manufactured fashion trends have brought leggings, animal print, and oversized shirt dresses to the forefront, leaving those well-thought out, delicately done designs left to fight each other in dark corners for customers who force themselves to look away from the train wreck that is mainstream fashion.

Byronesque, a vintage online retailer, decided to fight back. During NYFW, it plastered NYC with posters with quotes from famous designers and artists, conveying the idea that consumption in the fashion world has gotten "Out of Hand."

Byronesque believes that the fashion world is running around in fast circles, and describes our current fashion as "overly commercialized fashion mediocrity." They even interviewed famed designer, Vivienne Westwood, who gave them the quote "Buy Less, Choose Well," indicating that the consumer doesn't need a bunch of clothes from a bunch of designers, but a limited amount of clothes from good designers.

For an industry that depends on consumption, this is an interesting message. We are sure that Byronesque believes that standing up for what fashion used to be will drive fashion purists to them, which is possible. But then, how many true fashion purists are out there? Now in the information age, when nearly anyone can be called a designer, how can the creative and imaginative greats get out there?

We'll see if Byronesque's #OutofHand campaign will answer those questions.

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About the Author

Dwayne W. Waite Jr. is partner and principal at JDW: The Charlotte Agency, a marketing and advertising shop in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys consumer behavior, economics, and football.

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