What is Digital Fashion Communication?

Digital fashion communication is the intersection of fashion and information & communication technologies (ICTs). It is the aspect of communication sciences that studies how fashion is communicated in the digital or online environment, in connection with the traditional – and still highly relevant – offline media channels.

Industry professionals, media players and consumers use digital communication and marketing on a daily basis. As a result, consumer’s tastes (what they consider IN or OUT) and people's customs are increasingly being influenced by company-driven and user-generated online contents.

Want a more concrete definition? Everything or anything that has to do with websites, mobile apps, digital marketing, e-Commerce, SEO, usability, web analytics, augmented and virtual reality, social media, digital tools in the physical shops... in the fashion domain.

We’re talking here about the communication of the future... for fashion.

Why is it so important?

Digital fashion communication studies are needed in a society in which fashion and e-Commerce are in increasing demand, and there is only a limited number of professionals that have the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully interact in this dynamic digital environment.

• Online shopping is trending! According to the NetComm Suisse Observatory's Swiss e-Commerce & Digital Consumer Behavior 2017 Report produced by ContactLab, “clothing and fashion items” was the top product category for Swiss shoppers in 2017 with consumers spending on average 654 CHF over the course of the year. Yet this is not just a Swiss thing but also a European and global phenomenon.
• Fashion companies are going digital. According to The State of Fashion 2020 Report by McKinsey and the Business of Fashion, digital will continue to be a major focus of the fashion industry also for this year.
• Digital Fashion Communication professionals are in demand. In an interview Monica Valseschini, VP of human resources at VF International, which owns the iconic brands Vans, The North Face and Timberland and is established in Ticino, Switzerland, stated that: “As we expand our investment in the digital area, we are also coherently investing in talent acquisition into this field.” This is not the only company doing so. We analyzed the digital fashion jobs posted on LinkedIn for EU and Switzerland in the period from January to March 2017, and saw that there were over 1’427 open positions in 18 countries across Europe. Check out the latest results of our ongoing digital fashion competences research.