Style: The fashion musical

As fashion etailer Farfetch announces that music will be a part of its edit, we take a look at how music and fashion are engaged in a love affair that is eternal

Much is written about celebrity style - and we all know that today fashion trends are created more by the reel than the ramp. For any fashion house, the main job of the communications department is to focus on dressing; and when it comes to celebrity dressing, while actors love to dress up, they usually like to play it safe. It is the musicians who enjoy pushing the fashion envelope. Who can forget Lady Gaga's meat dress, or Madonna's corsets? Music stars do not have to be as prim and proper as their actor celebrity counterparts; in fact, the more outrageous they are, the more they tend to be celebrated. Which is why so many fashion houses work closely with the music industry. Gucci has a very special relationship with Florence Welch; Rihanna, Beyonce and Victoria Beckham all have their own fashion lines. And some of the most influential street style today comes from Coachella, California's annual music and arts festival. So, last month, when Farfetch announced it would be adding music to its repertoire, it only brought home the fact that fashion and music are truly a marriage made in heaven. As Karl Lagerfeld famously said, "Music is a part of the fashion life." This year, when Anna Wintour needed a co-chair for The Met Gala, formally called the Costume Institute Gala (which is fashion's biggest night out), it was Taylor Swift who was her natural first choice. Even fashion's most important editor knows music and fashion make for a combination that just spells electric style.
Farfetch is a British independent website that stocks products from over 400 independent boutiques around the world. This style of curation gives Farfetch a very exclusive and eclectic outlook, one that embraces young talent. Farfetch is also the retail partner of the Dubai Design Fashion Council's Fashion Prize which was won by Hussein Bazaza last year. The etailer launched two sets of playlists on Apple Music, Songs from the Shoot and Tune Tuesdays. The playlists will be curated by the creative team behind Farfetch's editorial shoots, as well as its featured stars such as Maxwell, Chelsea Leyland and Florrie. They will be created at Farfetch's photo shoots. The etailer will also integrate Apple Music into its existing iOS mobile, tablet app Farfetch Discover, and its website.
No fashion shoot, catwalk show or fashion presentation is complete without the right music - it's music that adds to the vibe of any show. Donatella Versace used unreleased music of Prince at her fashion show in June, as a tribute to the pop star who was not only an inspiration to her but to many designers in the industry.
Of course, the fact that Apple wants to be more "fashionable" is hardly a surprise - as its Senior Vice President for the last two years has been former Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts; it recently announced that American fashion designer Alexander Wang would be the first designer to be featured on Apple Music. According to Stephanie Horton, Chief Marketing Officer, Farfetch, "Both music and fashion tap into a consumer's emotions; music speaks to consumers in a way that visuals cannot. The two definitely make a powerful combination."
Music is probably a bigger influence on what you wear than you think - I am sure my love of winged eyeliner comes from Winehouse, and Jennifer Lopez inspires me to remember that you can still be a siren in your 40s. As Horton says, "Every morning, the first thing I do after checking my emails is turn on iTunes Radio. For me, it determines my mood and sets the tone of my day. For sure, a part of my look is influenced by the genre that happens to be playing." Farfetch believes that adding music to its repertoire will increase its global outlook. It works with boutiques from all over the world, and this may seem surprising as while fashion has no language, lyrics do. Explains Horton, "Farfetch has definitely been global from the beginning. We launched the site with 25 boutiques from five countries with that in mind, and it's an element of the brand which remains at our core. For this latest collaboration with Apple Music, we hope to bring artists and designers from different countries and culture to the world. We have an amazing line-up with the global Farfetch team which will make for an incredibly eclectic collection of music."
And though Farfetch is all about the online world and the music industry is now almost a completely digital business, the brand believes that fashion will not go down the same path. "Our CEO, José Neves, always says 'Fashion isn't downloadable', meaning the complete digital shift which happened in the music industry is not going to happen for fashion," points out Horton. "We are focused on building the retail experience of the future which we believe will be a mix of both online and offline experiences."
With Farfetch now working on its second iteration with Apple Music, just weeks after the ecommerce company announced its first foray into music, it seems that music and fashion are truly a match made in heaven.
sujata@khaleejtimes.com 

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