Has Fashion Week Street Style Gone Too Far?

November 17, 2016 | By: Alex Camille Admin

For me, the thought of Fashion Week street style conjures thoughts of people posing with contrived nonchalance. Two months out of every year, I scroll though countless Fashion Week images looking for underlying trends and, in a nutshell, looking for zeitgeist. The spirit of the times fascinates me. How a person dresses is an expression, a mode of protection, and an assertion all rolled into one. How peoples' garments reflect the times we live in is even more fascinating. Given the fact that Fashion Week street style is blatantly attention-seeking, how does it reflect our times? The words that comes to mind are market saturation.

#chiaraferragni having fun in #prada on her way to the Prada show this afternoon #milanfw #ss17 #streetstyle #fashiontape

A photo posted by Tim Regas (@wheresmydriver) on Sep 22, 2016 at 2:21pm PDT

To be sure, the street style scene during fashion weeks is wildly different than other times of the year. It's a time when bloggers, editors, and aspiring it-girls put on their most notice-me looks and appear before throngs of street photographers perched outside show venues. Many of these appearances are part of paid product placements on behalf of fashion brands. The companies are banking on Instagram followings to gain visibility. However, when viewed collectively, the mass of Insta-fashion becomes tiresome. After a while I feel like I'm seeing everyone's schtick accompanied by a "casually distracted" pose with cell phone in hand. I feel like we need another prop... maybe they should start posing with handfuls of balloons, or perhaps holding giant corn dogs instead?

Quick shot of #oliviapalermo with her hair up and in a tuxedo for the #eliesaab show today at #parisfw #pfw #ss17 -- #handbag by Elie Saab #streetstyle A photo posted by Tim Regas (@wheresmydriver) on Oct 1, 2016 at 12:39pm PDT

Ok maybe the corn dogs would be overkill, but my point is that these unstudied street style product placements are becoming way more irritating than conventional print ads. The artifice of the poses is becoming a bit disingenuous. Let's hope that this Insta-street style phase is just that, a phase. Until then, can the street style stars at least start smiling for the camera instead of feigning annoyance? We all know you're getting paid to wear that, and a sincere-ish smile is much more endearing.