It’s no secret that the fashion industry has been struggling significantly during difficult economic times. Just yesterday, a post on NY Mag’s The Cut warned of the grave danger in which the Christian Lacroix house has found itself after having filed for bankruptcy this past May.  My mind turned to a vision of the fantastic beaded Lacroix T-shirt that was paired with Guess? blue jeans on the first Vogue cover to ever feature jeans – a profound shift in Vogue’s message about what constitutes fashion. I shed a silent tear.

While upsetting, the constraints placed on today’s designers by the economic climate create an interesting opportunity for exciting change in the fashion industry.  Five years ago, no one would have imagined that Karl Lagerfeld would be designing a line for H&M – and yet it has happened, and the line received huge success. In many senses, access to quality fashion has become much more democratized – something which should have perhaps happened long ago, but there was no impetus to do so until it meant sink or swim for brands.

So what is next on the agenda for fashion designers?  Will Karl Lagerfeld be tweeting?  Well, perhaps not yet, but an article in the June 24 issue of WWD took an interesting look at the way that fashion designers are beginning to interact with the twittersphere.  Designers including Betsey Johnson, Donna Karan and Charlotte Ronson are recognizing the utility of free social media as a powerful marketing tool. In the iconic world of fashion, where labels and identity are often (and sometimes too) intertwined, Twitter affords fashion-lovers the opportunity to connect with their beloved brands on an even more personal level.

And speaking of personal, what I personally would love to see is designers not necessarily tweeting about deals and discounts, which I feel might “cheapen” (for lack of a better word) the image of such historically established houses as Chanel, Dior or Lanvin, but to instead see Alber Elbaz tweeting about his design inspirations, favorite pieces from his new collection, thoughts on the messages he wishes to convey through his work. I am reminded of the American Express ad featuring Diane Von Furstenberg, which I always found embarrassingly inspiring for a television commercial. Clothing is personal – it is a form of artistic expression that can become even more meaningful if we know from what vision it came to materialize. How much more fun would it be to wear a fabulous Marc Jacobs coat when Marc himself has twittered the story behind it?  This is a whole new way of interacting with fashion and I am anxious to see how designers will play with it.

-Kristin