Black Friday and exclusive Fashion Weeks: two key times of the year when retailers and the fashion industry hope to make up for a bad year or cap off an impressively up year. But before (or at the end of) these championship fights for redemption of retail revenue and crowning leaders, how do retailers and fashion industry elites get the word out about the extraordinary deals or collections they have? what to sell?

American retailers are learning how to participate in their customers’ conversations through social media. Whether on Facebook or Twitter, major retailers are learning what their customers like and dislike based on their Facebook statuses, comments and tweets. In addition to using commercials, retailers like Old Navy use their Twitter page to announce the deals and discounts that are currently in their stores.

Retailers like Cole Haan are using digital media to create nicknames for their customers based on customers’ lifestyles and are incorporating interactive games into their social media pages to complement these efforts. The Cole Haan Facebook page mentions “Like and Explore More” to encourage the visitor to dig deeper into how Cole Haan clothing and accessories fit into the “Urban Explorer.”

As B Culture has previously mentioned, digital media is a powerful commercialized hammer that some celebrities have wisely wielded to secure the nail in the foundation of a fruitful relationship with their fans. This is the same for high-end fashion designers. Celebrity fans, the clients of high-end fashion designers, often like to have their clients vote for “who wore it best” and post new looks via their social media fan pages. Celebrities are often the retail industry’s first guinea pigs and retailers use feedback from their customers on social media to learn what trends are coming or not coming, which is a heads up to the retailer as to which ones to follow or continue. producing.

Digital media also helps high-end fashion designers get the word out about accessing a designer’s full collection, campaign, and enables the supporting cast of the fashion industry, press, and stylists, Comment what you liked or disliked. which fashion shows they are excited to see and how the public can mix and match the designer’s pieces. Louis Vuitton has their entire Spring 2012 fashion show on YouTube. Before YouTube, customers could only dream of watching a high-end fashion show from start to finish. The Louis Vuitton fashion show video above is in HD, giving the viewer the experience of being at the actual show.

From New York Fashion Week to the opening of a new high-end boutique in Los Angeles, fashion editors and socialites alike can use Foursquare to let their followers know what fashion shows and store openings are wanting to cover or buy next. Retailers can also use Foursquare to reward repeat visitors with special discounts and recognition. In the image above, Jeremy P. appears as Kenneth Cole’s senior in SoHo. Foursquare makes a person a celebrity along with where they go.

Digital and social media have given the customer a more immediate opinion on what works and what doesn’t. This gives the retailer and designer the ability to react faster and more efficiently within their next collection. It seems that social media may have sped up the transition between fashion trends due to the quick reaction to what’s hot and what’s not. Interactive media is now the meteorologist of digitized style for the fashion industry.