How VFiles is Changing the Way We Consume Fashion
Back in August, when I was taking a break from dental school and going on this self discovery/betterment road, I stumbled upon this series called Model Files on YouTube. As I watched the teeny tiny episode, I realized that this is the ultimate fashion reality tv show i was looking for (The first episode came out in May 2012). Except it wasn't tv. It was online. But it was so much better than so many shows out there. So I finished the three seasons in one go. What made it work for me was that the show was so raw, and so detailed with inside information, and the cattiness aside, it showed how people in the fashion industry mingle, think, party, and work, from designers, to models, to casting agents. Even our protagonist is the casting agent, Preston, whose personality represents all that fashion industry is.
And VFiles represents all that fashion is now.
I started stalking and just observing vfiles over the course of past six months and I feel like having been involved in the vfiles phenomenon, I can see why VFiles is the future of fashion.
VFiles delves deep into fashion. They have their YouTube channel where you can find tons of videos just detailing the idea of what VFiles does. You have model profiles, designer interviews, and just random style talk (and talks). They take you behind the scenes of their fashion shows and all but like i said, the part that stood out for me was the Model Files, and I was hooked to their Intern Files. It gave such a good insight into what it's like being out there in the real world, as opposed to sitting in front of the screen all day long.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWl5MBIP0j0]
Then they have their website which boats of over 78,000 users who actively participate in posting the "files" and making this whole catalog of thoughts and ideas that tumblr wished it could have. They have copy cat spottings, and history of fashion houses to so many cool flashback photos that you'll need every day of the week to use the hashtag #fbf on instagram.
[caption id="attachment_5460" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Image via BoF[/caption]
Then there's the shop. Don't even get me started on it. It's like this cool, minimal burst of color that's not the regular black and white. Ok, maybe the walls are white, but it has so much more to offer than the regular earthy cools that seem to be dominating the world these days. Plus, if you go through the videos, you'll see so many cool and "it" people shopping at VFiles. Billboard even did a piece on their store dressing the music industry. They have an online shop you can shop at too.
They have all inds of cool and unique things up for grabs and it's all just really an amalgamation of creative freedom that can be expressed through clothing.
But you have the biggest hit of it all, that's had the fashion industry buzzing since day 1 of NYFW, is their VFILES MADE FASHION Fashion Show.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2LbIw3_e1s]
Now this is what I wanted to eventually come down to talking about and how all of it connects.
If you look at the silhouettes and the cuts of all the designers shown at their presentation at NYFW, and come back to the world of VFiles, you'll see that there's a connection in the users who make or break what is shown at the show. The designers are chosen through the vfiles platform online on their website, the stylists are chosen similarly too. But what chooses them are the users. The users vote for what they like, and that is what eventually gets to go out into to the world; out from the bubble that is VFiles.
From my observation of it all, and how i am an advocate of originality and individuality, VFiles is doing just that. It is providing individuals a place to be themselves and show the world what they like and don't like. And with the world where Vogue or GQ defined the basis of what's cool and what's not in the past, VFiles emerges as a community of individuals who don't want pre-defined terms, but are rather interested in making their own individualities speak out and saturate their world with what the other worlds might call weird, or freakish.
What makes VFiles tick is the strong sense of community VFiles has developed. There's a freedom to be one's own self and go for ideas and things that are not on the horizon, or on a new horizon at all. Time comes, they may be able to make their own horizons. Which is why VFiles Founder Julie Ann Quay calls these individuals fashion academics.
[caption id="attachment_5456" align="aligncenter" width="695"]
Image via The Coveteur[/caption]
This is a tumblr infested world, where instagram rules and the reposts determine the worth of a creation. But VFiles is here to defy all that. You will find a community supportive of breaking barriers and creating the things one is always wanting to create, or see. VFiles is the safe haven where you can find the bestest of all the designs out there, where innovation is not dead. Where innovation and creativity are making a family that is ready to take over the world.
[caption id="attachment_5463" align="aligncenter" width="533"]
Photo by Seung Lee[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_5464" align="aligncenter" width="533"]
Photo by Seung Lee[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_5465" align="aligncenter" width="533"]
Photo by Seung Lee[/caption]
The internet has made it easy for people to gain access to the coolest of things, and become a part of a much larger community where ideas are saturated to an extent of originality getting lost somewhere. It's much easier for larger, much influential communities to dictate what is in and what is out. Yet, there are people out there who want to defy all that, and while they might not be in on dethroning the already crowned rulers of the fashion world, they are also not going to be ruled by them.
These are the individuals that make VFiles. They reject the status quo, they live their own lives, they have their own lives, and they have their own ideas of how to live it. And how to dress it.
When I titled this post as How VFiles is Changing the Way We Consume fashion, i wanted to elaborate that how our social media profiles and activities are an extension of our mind and of ourselves. VFiles has provided us a platform to connect all parts of ourselves. And this is what the fashion industry needs; to being all entities of the creative individual together. We see, hear, get inspired, post and want the things we want. With VFiles, we get all that.
It all stems from the desire to stand out from the rest of the people. Nobody wants to die having been a part of the crowd. We all wanna die differently. We all wanna be different. And if you don't wanna be caught dead in the "it" bag of the season everyone has, VFiles has got your whole lifestyle covered.
For me, VFiles has been a platform where I figured out that weird is good, and it kind of helped me put a lot of things from my life into perspective. VFiles has helped me figure out a lot of things about life that needed figuring out and straightening and I think VFiles is not just about fashion, it's kind of like an extension of our thoughts and what we all need to think about at some point.
So yeah, VFiles will make it big and will always be there to embrace the ideas of an individual, no matter how far fetched they seem. And I am happy that it exists.
Follow me on VFiles here.
Insgaram here @thatpakiblog
Twitter here @thatpakiblog
And VFiles represents all that fashion is now.
I started stalking and just observing vfiles over the course of past six months and I feel like having been involved in the vfiles phenomenon, I can see why VFiles is the future of fashion.
VFiles delves deep into fashion. They have their YouTube channel where you can find tons of videos just detailing the idea of what VFiles does. You have model profiles, designer interviews, and just random style talk (and talks). They take you behind the scenes of their fashion shows and all but like i said, the part that stood out for me was the Model Files, and I was hooked to their Intern Files. It gave such a good insight into what it's like being out there in the real world, as opposed to sitting in front of the screen all day long.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWl5MBIP0j0]
Then they have their website which boats of over 78,000 users who actively participate in posting the "files" and making this whole catalog of thoughts and ideas that tumblr wished it could have. They have copy cat spottings, and history of fashion houses to so many cool flashback photos that you'll need every day of the week to use the hashtag #fbf on instagram.
[caption id="attachment_5460" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Image via BoF[/caption]Then there's the shop. Don't even get me started on it. It's like this cool, minimal burst of color that's not the regular black and white. Ok, maybe the walls are white, but it has so much more to offer than the regular earthy cools that seem to be dominating the world these days. Plus, if you go through the videos, you'll see so many cool and "it" people shopping at VFiles. Billboard even did a piece on their store dressing the music industry. They have an online shop you can shop at too.
They have all inds of cool and unique things up for grabs and it's all just really an amalgamation of creative freedom that can be expressed through clothing.
But you have the biggest hit of it all, that's had the fashion industry buzzing since day 1 of NYFW, is their VFILES MADE FASHION Fashion Show.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2LbIw3_e1s]
Now this is what I wanted to eventually come down to talking about and how all of it connects.
If you look at the silhouettes and the cuts of all the designers shown at their presentation at NYFW, and come back to the world of VFiles, you'll see that there's a connection in the users who make or break what is shown at the show. The designers are chosen through the vfiles platform online on their website, the stylists are chosen similarly too. But what chooses them are the users. The users vote for what they like, and that is what eventually gets to go out into to the world; out from the bubble that is VFiles.
From my observation of it all, and how i am an advocate of originality and individuality, VFiles is doing just that. It is providing individuals a place to be themselves and show the world what they like and don't like. And with the world where Vogue or GQ defined the basis of what's cool and what's not in the past, VFiles emerges as a community of individuals who don't want pre-defined terms, but are rather interested in making their own individualities speak out and saturate their world with what the other worlds might call weird, or freakish.
What makes VFiles tick is the strong sense of community VFiles has developed. There's a freedom to be one's own self and go for ideas and things that are not on the horizon, or on a new horizon at all. Time comes, they may be able to make their own horizons. Which is why VFiles Founder Julie Ann Quay calls these individuals fashion academics.
[caption id="attachment_5456" align="aligncenter" width="695"]
Image via The Coveteur[/caption]This is a tumblr infested world, where instagram rules and the reposts determine the worth of a creation. But VFiles is here to defy all that. You will find a community supportive of breaking barriers and creating the things one is always wanting to create, or see. VFiles is the safe haven where you can find the bestest of all the designs out there, where innovation is not dead. Where innovation and creativity are making a family that is ready to take over the world.
[caption id="attachment_5463" align="aligncenter" width="533"]
Photo by Seung Lee[/caption][caption id="attachment_5464" align="aligncenter" width="533"]
Photo by Seung Lee[/caption][caption id="attachment_5465" align="aligncenter" width="533"]
Photo by Seung Lee[/caption]The internet has made it easy for people to gain access to the coolest of things, and become a part of a much larger community where ideas are saturated to an extent of originality getting lost somewhere. It's much easier for larger, much influential communities to dictate what is in and what is out. Yet, there are people out there who want to defy all that, and while they might not be in on dethroning the already crowned rulers of the fashion world, they are also not going to be ruled by them.
These are the individuals that make VFiles. They reject the status quo, they live their own lives, they have their own lives, and they have their own ideas of how to live it. And how to dress it.
When I titled this post as How VFiles is Changing the Way We Consume fashion, i wanted to elaborate that how our social media profiles and activities are an extension of our mind and of ourselves. VFiles has provided us a platform to connect all parts of ourselves. And this is what the fashion industry needs; to being all entities of the creative individual together. We see, hear, get inspired, post and want the things we want. With VFiles, we get all that.
It all stems from the desire to stand out from the rest of the people. Nobody wants to die having been a part of the crowd. We all wanna die differently. We all wanna be different. And if you don't wanna be caught dead in the "it" bag of the season everyone has, VFiles has got your whole lifestyle covered.
For me, VFiles has been a platform where I figured out that weird is good, and it kind of helped me put a lot of things from my life into perspective. VFiles has helped me figure out a lot of things about life that needed figuring out and straightening and I think VFiles is not just about fashion, it's kind of like an extension of our thoughts and what we all need to think about at some point.
So yeah, VFiles will make it big and will always be there to embrace the ideas of an individual, no matter how far fetched they seem. And I am happy that it exists.
Follow me on VFiles here.
Insgaram here @thatpakiblog
Twitter here @thatpakiblog