Can I apply fashion design to web design?

digit-eli by Elizabeth Tran Web Development and Branding

Hoarding Mom's Vogue

As a young girl, I grew up with a love for high fashion. I would take my mom‘s Vogues after she finished reading them and earfold all my favorite looks and designers. There is something about 90s and early 2000s high end fashion that evokes a sense of class and sophistication I do not see nowadays.

On a regular basis I prefer function over fashion. However, when it comes to pageantry, I aspire to be a fashion icon. I get much of my inspiration from the Met Ball, high end Versace gowns, and the overall aesthetic of Chanel. As a model, I hope to be my own version of Kimora Lee Simmons. To use my experience in fashion and entertainment to develop a business. However, web design conflicts entirely with traditional fashion design. While it can both be minimalist, motifs like pearls or patterns do not align on a mobile website.

Can we digitize high fashion?

Even when I look at websites and profiles of Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, W, and other magazines I looked up to, they don’t exude that same style I aligned with on a nostalgic level. 

The age of the Internet destroyed luxury fashion. It was no longer an exclusive, elitist industry that capitalized on peoples insecurities. This is overall a great benefit because people of all shapes, sizes, and background can be included in the fashion conversation. However, the colors, designs, and styles should not be compromised in order for heritage brands to gain an instant profit.

Often times, I go through archives of old Vogue magazine to see what I want my web design styles, and overall clothing styles to be like. I look at brands of celebrities I am inspired by like Rihanna Zendaya and of course Kimora Lee, but their websites do not evoke the same sense of culture and heritage. I do not want to compromise the overall look and feel for the convenience of user experience, but I also want to optimize my website so that I can achieve a higher ranking and create a look that has been lost in our fashion industry. How to make a website looks like a coffee table fashion book? How do you achieve that same sense of comfort and luxury within the World Wide Web? I am trying to overlap my two circles of fashion and web development to see where there can be synergies. 

I'm sorry but I don't like Chanel's website

On one hand you need to be constantly adapting to the ever changing trends in technology, but you still need to stay true to your brand and style. Personally I am a more traditional fashion approach and I do not like most brands to merge with something that does not fit their identity like stuffed animals on a Louis Vuitton suit. Stay true to your roots if there was nothing ever wrong with it. Don’t make change just to change, rather to adapt to new functions. Maybe I am just off from the typical or mass consumer demand, and way more nostalgic than others.