The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has announced a new Fashion Instagrammer of the Year award that will be given to fashion biggies that have the best Instagram posts.
It's been a while since Fashion began its love affair with Instagram. The attraction between the two was instant and intoxicating. Members of the fashion industry flocked to this photo-sharing platform to help them visually relay fashion content to a large audience. Couture houses like Dior and Kenzo frequently use Instagram to share their upcoming projects with viewers.
To commemorate this relationship, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has announced a new Fashion Instagrammer of the Year award.
"Within at least the past six months, we've experienced the ever-growing influence of Instagram within fashion first hand," Steven Kolb, chief executive officer of the CFDA, told WWD. "Instagram has been a focal point for the industry as a whole and has quickly established itself as the go-to platform for fashion storytelling."
The panel of judges for this award include Rachel Zoe, Stephanie Max from The Coveteur and The Editorialist's Stefania Allen and Kate Davidson Hudson. This year's nominees are:
Donald "Drawbertson" Robertson, @donalddrawbertson
Dapper Lou, @dapperlou
Patrick Janelle, @aguynamedpatrick
Pari Ehsan, @paridust
Amy Stone, @amy_stone
Christina Caradona, @troprouge
Amanda Jasnowski, @hokaytokay
Doug Abraham, @bessnyc4
"Instagram has become the platform for visual expression in fashion because it's quick, easy, accessible - it's always with you," said Kevin Systrom, Instagram co-founder, according to Vogue. "It's enough of a category that the CFDA want to take that trend and maximise it in some way." Systrom says that a successful image on the social media channel "is not a produced moment that feels inauthentic".
Last week, sportswear brand Adidas announced that it was developing an application that will make it possible for people to print their Instagram pictures on a pair of personalized shoes. The pictures will be available for print only on the brand's range of ZX Flux sneakers.
Like all love affairs, Instagram and the fashion industry has its fair share of disagreements, most of which revolve around the photo-sharing platform's "no-nudity clause." Recently, much to the delight of fashion enthusiasts Grace Coddington, Vogue's quirky, outspoken creative director finally joined Instagram. In an attempt to promote her Paddle8 auction called "No Clothes", the fashionista shared a trademark line-drawn figure - a sketch of herself - reclining in a deck chair, nude, as her inaugural post. The action didn't go down to well with Instagram officials, who immediately deactivated her account for violating the platform's strict no-nudity policy.
Surprisingly, the account was activated again on Monday along with an apology note from the site.
"When our team processes reports from other members of the Instagram community, we occasionally make a mistake. In this case, we wrongly removed content and worked to rectify the error as soon as we were notified. We apologize for any inconvenience," a representative of Instagram explained to New York magazine's The Cut.
Coddington is not someone who goes down without a fight. After the account was activated, she posted another nude drawing - this time of cats. However, she was cautious enough to sensor the "private parts" of the animals.
"Good grief Pumpkin, Mother drew a nude selfie for her very first Instagram. No wonder they shut her down ... she is much fatter than that," she captioned the picture.
This is not the first time Instagram has taken a fashionista to task for nudity.
Frida Giannini's muse and Gucci catwalk regular Anja Rubik faced similar scrutiny when she shared a picture of herself wearing an overcoat and a gauzy sheer top, revealing at least one nipple. The picture was taken when she walked the ramp during Anthony Vaccarello's Autumn/Winter 2014 show. The account was shut down within 24 hours.
"I think this whole thing is ridiculous," Rubik told Style.com at the time. "It's like saying to the world that a woman's body is offensive. You can't show a nipple behind a sheer shirt?"
The incident sparked the "Don't fear the nipple, Instagram" campaign. Kendall Jenner, who walked for Marc Jacobs this season wearing a sheer top, had the image of her most high profile booking removed from her Instagram account.
