Did Oscar de la Renta Just Change Fashion Forever?

Oscar de la Renta debuted its fall collection yesterday, not in the glossy pages of Vogue or Harper's Bazaar, but on Instagram. Um. What? Thanks to Erika Bearman (you probably know her as @OscarPRGirl), the brand has always been ahead of the times, but this is something entirely new.

There are many reasons as to why Oscar de la Renta would make this move. For off, it's free. Running an ad in a September issue can cost a brand thousands of dollars, but Instagram costs nothing. But money isn't the only reason as to why Oscar de la Renta would make this move. By putting ads on Instagram well before the September issues hit newsstands, Oscar de la Renta is creating the first buzz for fall fashion. It's only July, but now people are talking about Oscar de la Renta's fall campaign. It's safe to assume that the brand's aim is for consumers to retweet, reblog, and regram the photo, helping to create the first buzz for fall fashion.

Social media has changed fashion in ways that no one could have ever suspected. New York Fashion Week is now #NYFW; Eva Chen, whose background is almost entirely digital, is suddenly the editor-in-chief to watch; and now fall collections are debuting on Instagram. Two years ago, the majority of fashion magazines and designers didn't even have Instagram, but now it's become clear that, unless they embrace the digital age, they'll be left behind.

All these digital changes point to a larger trend: Fashion is becoming more inclusive. It used to be that high fashion was just for editors, designs, and the wealthy, but now anybody with an iPhone can feel like she's part of the fashion world. As more brands begin to do things like releasing their collections via Instagram, fashion will begin to feel less elite and more accessible to all.