Lately I've been spending a lot of time on the VFiles website. In a time when a lot of people are mourning the "death of fashion journalism and blogging" as interest declines, VFiles feels like the next frontier. The social media site/archive is a fresh perspective, a new method of sharing ideas that's dedicated to re-energizing the industry.
The website originated as an source of fashion images, a way to present different ideas for a shoot or something; and the ethos behind that still remains on today's website: There are tons of archival photos from runway shows and print magazines that would usually be out of reach for kids who are interested in fashion (60% of VFiles users are under 24).
In terms of being a kind of fashion encyclopedia, there's also the VFiles Data and Vnacular series that are really short (shoutout to that millennial attention span or whatever), interesting ways to learn about the big names in the industry, how to say mispronounced fashion words, things that are part of the rich, somewhat exclusive/esoteric history of fashion.
All of their shows are available in the VFiles TV section and on their Youtube channel, where they have my two favorites: Model Files and Intern Files. I started watching Intern Files when I saw that this really cool VFiles intern I follow on Instagram was on it. The series follows a group of teens competing for the chance to intern for the company. It manages to strike this weird balance of reality television satire and earnestness where I feel like I'm getting some warped, hilarious version of the very real drama of the fashion industry.
The founder of VFiles describes the website as both a community and a platform, the community aspect being the most interesting to me. All of the media that's on the website right now was uploaded by any of the over 78,000 members. The setup of the website recognizes the different parts of the organism that are necessary for survival in the fashion industry, and allows designers, photographers, models, stylists, musicians, artists etc with similar ideas to connect.
As a creative on VFiles, there are a lot of opportunities to get your work out there if you can't do it in conventional venues by putting your stuff up to be sold in the VFiles shop, or applying to be a part of the VFiles-made fashion show. And the best part of this (though there are some flaws) is that VFiles users are the ones that decide who's chosen.
The footage from the shows of the past few years show a lot of really innovative designers, who have their own aesthetics and definitions of the "cool" that the fashion industry is obsessed with. I have endless admiration for this concept, because it really fits into my utopian image of a fashion industry that is connected and inventive.
What do you guys think of all this-- what does this mean for the future of fashion? Are you as excited about this as I am?
Thanks for showing me the Intern Files! I just watched the first one and it's hilarious. Gonna binge watch the rest. Thanks!
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