Spring/summer, fall/winter, spring/summer haute couture, fall/winter haute couture, pre-fall, resort, and other collections. It never stops.

Just when I thought I could take a breather after cramming for finals and rushing to get my things together at the end of another school year, I’ve been reminded of the often overwhelming pace of the fashion industry. The Chanel resort 2014 collection greeted me in a way that could be seen as harassment as I aimlessly perused the Internet. Don’t get me wrong, I thought Karl Lagerfeld’s Singapore-inspired show was one of his best works in recent years. However, I’m beginning to wonder: is fashion moving too fast?

It’s is a consumer-driven industry, and today’s consumer has a shorter attention span than a toddler. With the help of social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, we can see the latest from fashion insiders in a split second. Personally, I usually enjoy the luxury of fashion at my fingertips. But as designers, writers, and other people in the industry feel the need to keep up with consumers’ desires for instant gratification, it seems like they could be getting spread too thin.

Nicolas Ghesquière recently spoke about commercialization stifling his creative vision, and with the speed of today’s fashion market, this couldn’t be more apparent. In several cases, the creativity and fantasy that once accompanied high fashion has been lost in the quest for commercial, media-friendly work. I won’t call out specific instances, but I’ve seen multiple brands lose their creative vision and diminish designers’ skills. Presenting a true struggle of quality vs. quantity, it often seems that people are finding it more important to elevate the corporate side of a fashion house instead of mastering the development of unique items. As new trends come and go in the blink of an eye, it’s hard to find the real innovation.

The idea of a fickle, impatient fashion consumer couldn’t be more apparent than in the modeling world. I’ve already discussed the issues that come from this fast-paced environment, as most fashion models have essentially become disposable. The “shelf-life” of these girls has virtually wiped out the concept of a supermodel (I could go into even more detail about this issue regarding male models, but that’s another story). Each season brings a stampede of new faces poised to be superstars, but fashion industry insiders and consumers move on to the next model faster than you can swipe through your Instagram feed.

Realistically, the speed of fashion is only going to increase in the future. We can view collections in real time on websites like Style.com, while social media is becoming more advanced every minute. I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing to have these things readily available; maybe I’m just too slow and need to start keeping up more. But I really hope that designers, writers, editors, bloggers, models, stylists, photographers, and everyone else involved in the fashion industry can find the balance between presenting their skills and appealing to consumers.

Share your thoughts!