In this day and age, if you see something you like, you take a picture of it. And then post it to Instagram.

If there isn’t a picture of it, it is almost as if it didn’t exist.

Instagram has already revolutionized the food industry — you can’t scroll through your feed without seeing a food selfie — and now, it’s taking over the fashion industry as well.

Everything is now about the photo — the staging, the lighting, the overall atmosphere and even the fashions themselves. Instead of just focusing on the garments and their details, designers are looking to see if the garments will photograph well.

A lot of designers, especially young designers new to the scene, are reconsidering the shapes, volumes and colors of their outfits in a totally different way. They pay way more attention to the photogenic value of an outfit.

You have to wonder, with all of this reworking of fashion to be displayed on a screen, what is being lost or sacrificed? The world may never know.

I’m not a fan of having to wonder about it. There are many subtleties in fashion that are not easily shown when you take a picture of a garment. A lot of times, photographs just don’t do a garment justice. But just because we can’t see the nuances in pictures, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take them.

Special beadwork, intricate stitching and other small details are what make each individual piece special. If we start to leave out all of the details, then eventually everything is just going to end up looking the same.

The reason designers have to reconsider all of this is because Instagram and other forms of digital media have changed the way fashion is shown, experienced and shared among its followers.

Creating a unique — and, by extension, shareable — experience for jaded show-goers has become part of a designer’s mandate. Shows are designed to wow not only those in attendance, but also all of their followers.

Fashion brands and magazines have their own social media accounts, showing their followers behind-the-scenes photos and videos that they wouldn’t be able to get otherwise. Fashion bloggers post pictures of their daily outfits; designers share their mood boards.

The way that collections are covered has changed immensely as well. The coverage of fashion week is no longer limited to magazines, newspapers and style websites. Celebrities and fashion followers post pictures and videos of their favorite shows on their profiles. There are even designers who post videos of their own shows on Instagram.

However, not everyone shares the love for this multichannel form of sharing fashion. Some labels are still trying to limit access for sharing their designs.

According to an April 9 article in The New York Times titled “Fashion in the Age of Instagram,” there are brands that actually block cellphone and data signals during their shows. That doesn’t mean that they can’t take photos and videos with their phones and share them later anyway.

Most designers have already accepted that digital media is a new factor when sharing their collections. And I definitely think this is something we should embrace. I follow several fashion bloggers and designers on Instagram and I definitely look forward to the pictures they post.

We live in a culture where we constantly share our experiences with other people. By sharing their collections and other backstage photos and videos, designers create a more special bond between their brand and their customers.

Their followers get to see things that they wouldn’t have been able to if digital media didn’t exist. And by having their items on social media, they may gain followers, and potential customers, who wouldn’t have seen their garments otherwise.

The next time you’re out and you like what someone is wearing, take a picture and post it to Instagram. You may just change the face of fashion.

Published on April 14, 2014 at 1:00 am