Victoria Magrath - The New Fashion Rules

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Victoria Magrath is the creator and author of the award-winning fashion, travel and beauty blog, Inthefrow. Victoria established her blog in 2012 as she was completing her PhD at the University of Manchester on the impact of e-commerce on consumers behaviour, following her role there as a Fashion Retailing lecturer. Within the six years of her blogging career, Victoria has won seven awards including the UKs Best Fashion Blog of 2017.

Victoria has been the face of Hugo Bosss A/W17 campaign and Ted Bakers Christmas 2017 campaign. In 2017 Victoria became a Beauty Ambassador for LOreal Paris, starring in the Princes Trust campaign to champion confidence in young people. In 2018 Victoria became a regular fashion columnist for Glamour magazine and launched her first collection collaboration with luxury leather goods brand Strathberry. This is her first book.

inthefrow.com

@inthefrow

(@harrison)

This book absolutely wouldnt have been possible without the following wonderful people. My loyal and supportive audience of fashion and beauty lovers. You guys lift me up when I need it but permanently keep my feet firmly on the ground. Thank you to HarperCollins especially, for believing in my vision and understanding my love of the online fashion world. My team at Gleam Futures, who are always there to keep me on the right track and have supported my ideas throughout our years together. Rebecca, for being my biggest source of inspiration and for never getting bored of being my platform to bounce ideas off. Steph, for knowing me better than I know myself. Kyle Galvin, for his knowledge, enthusiasm and imagination. Mum and Dad, for 29 years of endless love and support. And Alex, my love, for bringing me coffees in bed whenever I just needed time to write in my pyjamas.

(@philltaylormade)

Technology has been the driving force behind the huge changes we have seen within the fashion industry over the last 20 years. But a lot of the change has come from us the population, the people adoring, living and inspiring the fashion industry. Attitudes have shifted and people are standing up for the things that they believe in, spurred on by the reach and conversations happening within social media. Allowing the ordinary person a platform from which to voice their concerns and injustices has enabled everyone to push forward for change.

Be culturally aware and diverse. I have only touched on a few moments in this book: #TimesUp, plus-size models, the abolition of fur and the movement to become not only more diverse and inclusive, but to reach a stage where those words arent needed any more, where everyone is living in a world of equal opportunities. They are all issues that have been spoken of before, but not loudly enough that it would ever make a difference. With social platforms, everyone has a voice, everyone has an opinion and theres no way to muffle the noise. Awareness is growing because we have all used our voices.

But we must stay attuned to everything that is happening within this industry. Be aware of the impacts not only to improve our understanding of the fashion industrys inner workings, but to protect the fashion world, and the physical world, which we adore. Fast fashion and product wastage, the dying high street, our lack of browsing privacy and the issues with counterfeiting the more we learn about the impacts of our consumerism, the better we can continue to protect and enjoy our favourite industry. The better we can be as human beings.

Be innovative. Be individuals. Wear what you like, live how you like and gain inspiration from every corner of the physical and digital world. The most successful people in this industry got to their position because they had an idea, thrived on inspiration and believed in their abilities. Believe in your own skills, your own ideas and take the lead. And Be the first to adapt. Spot trends, embrace original movements and be the first to try something new. You never know, it could be the making of your own career, your own future or just your own enjoyment.

Social media is not going away, so why not embrace it? Be social. Use your voice, join a community and use the tools that technology has offered you. Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest theyre all breeding grounds for creativity, opinions and new ideas, so use them for their best parts, leave the worst parts and then learn, play and grow. If you want to develop a following, or if you just want to Be accessible and easy to find for your peers, your potential audience or the people who share your interests, ensure they can find you in all the noise. You might not want to be present on every channel, but choose your favourites and make use of the digital space. Start a blog, open an online store, go global or reach a new audience with a #ad.

Stay ahead of the game, learn the new rules and make the most of your opportunities. This world is there for the taking.

August 1994

The high street just got huge. Imagine that you have every clothing store in the world at your fingertips, and their goods are just a few days of delivery time away from being on your doorstep. If you lined up every single online clothing store (those worth your money, that is) along a street in your hometown, no doubt that line would be hundreds and hundreds of miles long. But thats technically what we have now. An entire shopping district, ready to be shopped by anyone on a phone or a computer.

( Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash.com)

It all started in 1994. Retail went global when an American entrepreneur sold a CD to a friend over an encrypted service. It was the first secure transaction ever to happen online and it opened the floodgates for an online explosion.

(@inthefrow)

I can recall the jealousy I felt when school friends of mine headed to Orlando, Florida, every summer with their parents for yet another year at Disney. But it wasnt Florida I was jealous of; it was the clothing they brought home from those trips. Piles and piles of Abercrombie & Fitch. It was affordable, cool, preppy and the UK market just didnt make clothes like that then. (This was before Topshop had risen to the top of its game.) These friends of mine were strutting around in American-based apparel while I was stuck in Tammy Girl and Kappa tracksuits. (First-world problems, I know, but when youre nine years old, these things seem to matter.)