Wearable media may be limited to certain tech savvy or avant garde sectors of society, but this does not mean that emerging media has no impact on fashion for most users.
Shopping is one area in which much of the population might encounter the intersection of fashion and emerging media. On Fashioning Circuits we’ve covered a multitude of ways in which retailers are attempting to leverage emerging media to increase sales.
Though one has long been able to purchase clothing, shoes, and accessories on Amazon, Monday’s New York Times article makes it clear that the online retailer has set its sights on the fashion elite.
Unlike retailers such as Target who have recently moved to feature lower end lines from big-name designers, Amazon is trying to capture the attention of those who are accustomed to shopping in high-end stores. It would seem that the availability on Amazon will deplete the aura of scarcity that is often associated with such high end consumption.
Virgnia Postrel’s essay “How Unhip Amazon Can Walk the Fashion Runway” offers some interesting advice to Amazon. The opportunities to showcase new talent and connect with philanthropic missions seem as though they could work particular well to use the affordances of the net and overcome the aura issue.
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