Social media has completely changed the way fashion week is reported. Follow the right bloggers, and images from the runway will fill your feed weeks before hitting the pages of Vogue. Yes, fashion – according to the New York Times – has officially entered “the Age of Instagram.” Image via Instagram  

Now, while this is all pretty common knowledge, what’s startling – and a little scary – is the emphasis placed on how a garment or runway show will appear on social media rather than in real life. The NYT reports that designers like Alexander Wang are even consciously editing pieces to cater to 2-D screens. While runways have always been over-the-top social events, they’re now staged to wow not only attendees, but also their fashion-hungry followers. And this, consequently, ends up shifting focus from the actual clothing, like in Chanel’s supermarket set pictured above.

I am all for instant access to gorgeous fashion and lavish events (goodbye, FOMO), but I’m concerned that when I finally get my hands on these coveted designs, they’ll, well, fall flat in person. Now, will that keep me from compulsively checking Chiara Ferragni’s feed? Probably not.

Read more on nytimes.com.  By Emily Ketterer, Staff Writer

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