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There is runway and every-day fashion and then there is street style -- a creative amalgamation of the two. And it captivates the media and consumers alike.
"I think most people are not visionary about what they wear, but once they can actually see someone wearing it, it makes it understandable, viable and acceptable," says Kimberly Cihlar, a consultant for the Tom Julian Group and fashion writer/producer at kci communications, who also writes the FashionWhirled blog.
Street style is as subjective as it is varied, but ultimately it is eye-catching enough to land its wearers on blogs or fashion pages. It can be educational for the style shy, and inspirational for the fashionistas.
Either way, street style may have some potential to drive up retail business.
"Street style has created a kind of business in the industry," says Dillard's Midwest's Jerry Talamantes, director of special events and public relations. "It does help along certain people in their look."
Although almost two-thirds of consumers (66%) get their clothing ideas from what they already own and like, followed by store displays or window shopping (45%), 34% of shoppers are influenced by people they see regularly, according to the Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey.
But Barneys' Simon Doonan, creative ambassador-at-large, says street style is not a direct influence because it is too far out for most people.
"However, it does give people permission to experiment," he says. "Real street style is anti-fashion. But it makes regular people slightly more daring than they otherwise might be."
The Monitor survey finds women are significantly more likely than men to get style ideas from store displays or window shopping (52% versus 35%), people they see regularly (36% versus 31%), catalogs (32% versus 18%), commercials or ads (25% versus 22%), fashion magazines (27% versus 10%), TV shows (21% versus 15%) and celebrities (13% versus 8%).
Consumers under age 35 are significantly more likely than older consumers to get their apparel ideas from people they see regularly (41% vs 30%), fashion magazines (26% vs. 17%), TV shows (25% vs. 14%) and celebrities (17% vs. 6%), according to Monitor data.
Blogs that celebrate street style have been around for years now, and only seem to be growing. Scott Schuman started The Sartorialist in 2005, and his blog now reaches 70,000 readers a day. Though his popularity has led to books, a column in Style.com and features in GQ, Vogue Italia and more, Schuman's daily blog is about photographing regular people on the street who happen to have a certain je ne sais quoi.
Schuman spends four to five hours a day out on the streets, identifying subjects who are Sartorialist-worthy. In his segment for Intel's Visual Life series, Schuman says, "When I look at something, I don't really think, 'Is that fashionable enough, is that of-the-moment enough.' I'm just reacting."
Cihlar's column provides both photographs and columns for her readers. She says there are two ways of looking at street style today.
"There's the way the real person makes fashion attainable, by mixing high-low -- designer or luxury with affordable basics -- to create her or his own rendition of the popular trends," Cihlar says. "And there's the way the outer echelon of on-trend or fashionista people dress in order to be photographed by the street scene bloggers. Retail is doing a great job of addressing the high-low aspect, what with collaborations between designers and stores like H&M and Target. They're giving people 'designer at a price,' which allows fashion to reach more people, price-wise."
Cihlar adds that consumers will always be influenced by those around them. "Everybody ultimately wants to 'belong' to their own tribe. And if someone is 'into' fashion, they are also going to be influenced by what they see on the street. Anything can be a kick start to inspiration."
The hope is that inspiration carries to the register. Street style's influence at retail may be debatable, but anything that keeps all eyes on fashion is certainly a boon in its own right.
"For a retailer, blogs are only valuable before the season because stores plan out their inventory," Talamantes says. "Blogs are often, 'Buy this now, get this now -- here's where I got it.' I don't know if a retailer would want to or could change their stock based on what somebody is blogging about. It's different if somebody is at the pre-season fashion shows and says, 'This is what's going on.' Then a retailer could respond." Doonan adds that blog influence varies tremendously.
"Some bloggers are talking to themselves, literally, and others, like Sea of Shoes, ManRepeller and Tavi have a huge following and more influence. The hard part is sorting through the clutter and seeing who has traction."
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