People used to go to fashion shows to see the clothes; now they go to be seen wearing them. The practice of documenting “street style” evolved in the 1980s, when style magazines such as i-D began chronicling people out and about. Today though, the stars of the scene don’t pound pavements hoping to be snapped on the street; they exit chauffeur-driven cars to totter the five or six metres to the fashion show venues, often posing on their phone or chatting with a pal in a matching outfit. Neither do they wear thrift any more: these street stars are seen in the latest designer clothes, sometimes just hours after their catwalk debut. It’s good news for the labels; it’s even better news for those canny enough to monetise their penchant for clashing print or double denim.

观众过去到时装秀场就是为了欣赏时装，如今去的目的是希望显摆自己的行头。上世纪80年代，记录都市街头时尚开始起步，当时《i-D》之类的时尚杂志就开始记录街头巷尾年轻人的穿着行头。然而，如今的街拍对象出头露面的目的并非是成为摄影师的抓拍目标；他们在距离秀场举办地5、6米的地方走下专车，故意放慢脚步，经常自拍造型或是与身穿同样行头的好友闲聊。他们的穿着也不再寒酸：这些街拍明星往往身着最新款的名牌服装抛头露面，这些时装有时只比T型台上刚亮相的晚区区几个小时。这对于时尚品牌来说是福音，对于那些脑瓜灵光的时尚爱好者更是如此，他们利用自己青睐鲜明格纹印花装(clashing print)以及牛仔单品叠穿(double denim)的穿着方式而大获其利。

Conservatives within the fashion world may dismiss street style as part of the growing “circus” around the shows, but its leaders can translate an image into big rewards; from ambassador deals with brands and paid-for posts on social media to own clothing ranges and brand collaborations. The rise in street style has even sparked a wider trend in “real people”-led advertising. J Crew kicked things off in 2012 with a campaign starring Caroline Issa (chief executive and fashion director of Tank magazine), stylist Julia Sarr-Jamois and French journalist Virginie Mouzat. Last year, “Tod’s Band” campaign featured 15 personalities and fashion show regulars including Langley Fox Hemingway, Mae Lapres and Julia Restoin Roitfeld, while Chloé is currently popularising its bags and accessories on social media with the hashtag #ChloeGirls. Peacocking has never been so profitable.

时尚界保守人士或许会把街头时尚贬称为秀场外围逐渐增多的“杂耍”而已，但是，无论是签约品牌出任形象大使、在社交媒体上进行付费广告宣传，还是推出自己的时装系列以及品牌合作共建，这股潮流的引领者都从中大获其利。街头时尚的兴起甚至让各色人物参与代言的广告战变本加厉。2012年，J Crew聘请《Tank》杂志总裁兼时尚总监卡洛琳•伊莎(Caroline Issa)、设计师朱丽娅•萨尔-加莫娃(Julia Sarr-Jamois)以及法国记者穆扎(Virginie Mouzat)出任广告片主角，算是开了这种合作风潮之先河。去年，“Tod’s Band”广告片聘请了15位名人与时装秀常客，其中就包括岚莉•福克斯•海明威 (Langley Fox Hemingway)、Mae Lapres 以及Julia Restoin Roitfeld；而蔻依(Chloé)目前则在社交媒体上以#ChloeGirls#的标签号推介自己的手袋与配饰。高调张扬如今比以往任何时候都要有利可图。

It’s not only the street stars who are cashing in. Many of the photographers shooting the styles have turned their images into a viable business, among them Tommy Ton (who has shot for Condé Nast and his own site, tommyton.com), Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist blog turned book, Vogue contributing editor Phil Oh (aka Street Peeper) and Adam Katz Sinding of Le 21ème.

不仅街头时尚明星能大肆挣钱，很多街拍摄影师也因此坐收渔利，其中就包括汤米•托恩（Tommy Ton，他为康泰纳仕(Condé Nast)以及自己的网站tommyton.com提供照片）、把自己博客The Sartorialist结册出版的斯科特•舒曼(Scott Schuman)、《Vogue》特约编辑Phil Oh（又称街拍潮人(Street Peeper)）、以及创建Le 21ème网站的Adam Katz Sinding。

Katz Sinding has been shooting since 2007, but has only been capturing fashion week attendees since 2011. Now it’s a huge part of his work — he’s funded to travel by a range of clients, “from e-commerce companies, to publications, to the brands themselves”, and has a syndication deal with Trunk Archive for resale of his images. He’s watched the scene change enormously. “It’s been a very fast (de)evolution,” he jokes. “Back then, the people we shot were exponentially more authentic. There was not the push from brands that we now see. It was rare to see full runway looks walking down the street.”

Katz Sinding自2007年以来一直从事街拍，但2011年之后才拍摄时装周的各色参客。如今这成了他的主要工作——形形色色的主顾（“从电子商务公司、出版社到品牌公司）资助其四处拍摄”）；他还与Trunk Archive签订了供稿协议，向对方转售自己的街拍照片。他亲眼目睹了整个时尚界的这场巨变。“这是异乎寻常的变化。”他开玩笑道，“想当初，我们街拍的对象多是展示其真实生活状态，他们并没有品牌公司对此推波助澜（如今则比比皆是），当时身穿全套时装行头行走在大街小巷的人非常少。”

Blogger Leandra Medine — aka Man Repeller — is a regular in Katz Sinding’s shots. Her idiosyncratic style makes her a photographer’s dream — the name of her blog is a nod to her kooky taste: clothes that stylish women adore but men find sexually repellent. She’s also noticed the commodification of the scene. “When I started five years ago, street style felt more like an indie art,” says the writer, who has worked with Saks Fifth Avenue, shoe brand Superga, Michael Kors and Maje on brand collaborations. “It’s become a sort of native advert in many ways — living, breathing sponsorships that look a lot like personal style but are actually motivated by something other than self-expression.”

时尚博主利安德拉•梅丁（Leandra Medine，也就是The Man Repeller）一直是Katz Sinding的街拍对象。她的另类时尚风格使其成为摄影师觊觎的目标——她的博客名也与另类时尚风格一脉相承：她的服装让时尚女性倾心不已，但男士见后却毫无性趣。她也目睹了整个时尚圈的这场巨变。“五年前自己开始街拍时，街头时尚酷似独立制作的艺术。”这位时尚写作者说道，她如今与萨克斯第五大道百货店(Saks Fifth Avenue)、鞋履品牌Superga、Michael Kors 以及Maje合推品牌。“在很多方面，这已成为了某种原生广告——品牌公司赞助的装束更似体现了个人时尚，但实际的推波助澜者却是自我表现之外的力量。”

Today, almost every label will spend time and money “placing” product. Gifting has long been a way of showcasing goods but, more recently, these gestures of goodwill have become more formalised arrangements. Increasing numbers of key influencers and “tastemakers” now take fees or enter contractual relationships to promote brands on blogs and social media. It’s a change that has been driven both by brand promotion and the thirst for imagery created by the enormous growth in editorialising in ecommerce sites.

现如今，几乎每个品牌都会花费大量财力与时间“推销”自己的产品。长久以来，展示产品的高招就是免费赠送，但近几年，这些善意举措已演变为更正式的合同。越来越多有巨大影响力的人与时尚达人如今不是收取费用、就是通过签约在博客与社交媒体上帮助推销相应品牌。如此变化，正是出于品牌推销以及对形象照片之需求，而正是电商网站对时尚评论的巨大发展创造了上述需求。

“The essence of street style itself has changed,” says Yasmin Sewell, fashion director of Condé Nast’s new ecommerce site style.com (which will launch this year) and a much-photographed presence at the shows. “In its early days, the focus was very much on a person’s unique self-expression. There was no such thing as Instagram to determine a person’s ‘value’. Now it’s one of a brand’s most powerful marketing tools.”

“街头时尚的内涵早已今非昔比。”康泰纳仕(Condé Nast)今年即将成立的电子商务网style.com时尚总监雅斯明•休厄尔(Yasmin Sewell) 说，她也是时装秀场摄影师重点关注的人物。“在一开始，聚集点多为某位名人的个性时尚。当时还没有Instagram这类决定名人‘巨大影响力’的社交平台。如今，社交媒体成为品牌最具影响力的营销工具。”

The “product for post” concept — a freebie in exchange for a post on social media, or a shout-out at the shows — has grown in tandem with the street-style movement. “Only a tiny handful of brands can afford to put a full-page ad in a magazine,” Sewell continues. “But almost any brand can afford to gift a blogger or editor in the hope their product is worn and seen and will create demand. There’s so much strategy involved — the right placement on the right person, snapped by the right photographers and featured on the right websites can mean so much for a brand’s exposure and ‘covetability’.”

“以时装换广告位”理念（免费赠送产品以换取在社交媒体上打广告或是在时装周上公开露脸 (shout-out)）的兴起亦步亦趋于街头时尚风潮。“只有少数品牌有财力在时尚杂志刊登整版广告。”休厄尔继续道。“但几乎每个品牌都有实力给博主或时尚主编赠送时装，并希望自己的装束公然示众，从而创造相应的市场需求。所有这一切都是处心积虑——寻找合适的对象宣传自己的时装，而后物色合适的摄影师街拍、并刊登在理想的社交网站上，此举对于品牌的曝光率与追捧度意义非凡。”

This transactional aspect of image-making has made Katz Sinding wary of describing himself as a “street-style” photographer. “I’m trying to capture something beyond the superficial commercial aspect,” says Katz Sinding, who shoots the looks outside the shows for W magazine and lists Emmanuelle Alt, editor-in-chief of French Vogue, Isabelle Kountoure, Wallpaper*’s fashion director, and models such as Hanne Gaby Odiele among his favourite subjects. “‘Street style’ to me, now, is showing trends and ‘important’ people dressed in ‘important’ brands — it’s a bit boring.”

街拍牵扯利益回报，让Katz Sinding避谈自己是“街头时尚”拍客。“我努力捕捉那些超越单纯商业利益的形象。”Katz Sinding说。他为《W》杂志拍摄秀场外的时尚名流形象，并把法国版《Vogue》主编艾曼纽•奥特(Emmanuelle Alt)、《Wallpaper*》杂志时尚总监伊萨贝拉(Isabelle Kountoure)以及包括汉娜•盖比•奥迪尔( Hanne Gaby Odiele)在内的诸多名模列为自己最青睐的拍摄目标。“在我看来，如今的‘街头时尚’就是展现时尚风向以及‘重点人物’穿着 ‘重点品牌’的风采——这有点无聊乏味。”

The “important” people he speaks of aren’t celebrities but the once-anonymous fashion writers or stylists. Street-style fever has given birth to the strange notion of the “influencer” — someone who’s not traditionally famous, but can fit into high fashion and has upwards of 50,000 Instagram followers. For brands, images of these people can become vital advertising leverage, the importance of which will last far beyond fashion week.

他所说的“重点人物”并非名人，而是曾经隐匿真名的时尚作家与设计师。街头时尚热潮催生了前所未有的“大V”——他们并非传统意义上的名人，但对高端时装慧眼独具，Instagram粉丝数超过5万。对于各大品牌来说，这些牛人的照片可以成为至关重要的广告利器，其巨大影响力会远超时装周这个范畴。

Arguably, today’s influencers don’t need to be photographed: they must simply document themselves, obsessively. To Susie Lau, author of the fashion blog Style Bubble, this growth was inevitable. One of the most respected — and familiar — faces on the scene, admired for her support of young labels, her success has inspired thousands of copycats. “It doesn’t surprise me in the least,” she explains. “It’s only exploded because Instagram has become such a huge platform. But it was ever thus. There will always be girls who wear clothes really well.”

可以说，如今的时装大V们无需成为专门的拍摄对象：他们必须记录自己的一切（得全身心投入）。在时尚博客Style Bubble博主苏茜•劳(Susie Lau)看来，这种发展趋势不可避免。她是整个时尚界最受尊重、也是最为熟知的人物，因其大力支持新成立品牌而被人津津乐道；她的成功故事激励了成千上万的仿效者。“我完全觉得不足为奇。”她解释道。“我受到的追捧爆棚，因为Instagram已成为超级社交平台。但过去也是如此，上妆效果好的姑娘总是不乏其人嘛。”

Blogger Pandora Sykes is great at getting dressed. She juggles her digital work and Instagram feed with a job at Sunday Times Style magazine. She says: “I’ve been very resistant to being a paid body — who wants to be a fashion sandwich-board? Someone being paid to wear something at the shows is just an example of how you can leverage your image and your personal brand. Bribery is rife. People think if they send something that that is some form of payment for a post. I’ve been sent umbrellas before and got a follow-up email saying it would be great if we could have a ‘cheeky little Instagram post’.”

博主赛克斯(Pandora Sykes)擅长穿衣打扮。她除了任职于《Sunday Times Style》时尚杂志外，还兼顾自己的博客与Instagram的feed网页。她这样说道：“我一直强烈反对成为‘付费代言人’——谁愿意充当时尚界的广告牌？时装周的付费代言者只是利用个人形象与名声进行投机的其中一个例子。时尚界此类‘贿赂’越发司空见惯。大家都觉得品牌公司免费赠送时装，就是某种形式的广告代言费。本人之前获赠过雨伞，紧随其后就会收到电邮，声称若‘在Instagram有块巴掌大的展示空间’，将不胜感激。”

Sasha Wilkins of Liberty London Girl, sums it up when she says, “Once you hit half a million followers on Instagram you can start writing your own cheques — ￡10,000 for a post with you wearing something.”

时尚博客Liberty London Girl的博主萨莎•威尔金斯(Sasha Wilkins)总结道，“Instagram的粉丝数一旦达到50万，就可以主动开价——在Instagram上的时装代言费1万英镑。”

But are viewers or readers aware of these payments when browsing street-style blogs or Instagram? “Do the semantics really matter to who’s looking at them?” asks Lau, who has worked with the likes of Coach and Yoox and on sponsored blog projects and social media posts featuring products. For her, “it’s no different to flicking through advertising in a magazine. They’re looking at it for a fleeting second and they’ve given it a fleeting amount of attention.”

但用户浏览这些街头时尚的博客与Instagram时，是否意识到上述代言费？“浏览对象真的会在意这些语意吗？”劳恩问道。她本人就博客与社交媒体上的代言费与蔻驰(Coach)以及Yoox等品牌展开了合作。在她看来，“这与浏览时尚杂志的广告毫无二致。读者匆匆浏览，只是稍微注意而已。”

For Lau, “This is a new form of advertising and it is one that works because the images feel personal — those girls have built up a cult of personality. Though people may become numb to that — in the way we’re numb to traditional advertising today.”

在劳恩看来，“这是行之有效的新广告模式，因为浏览照片让人倍感亲切——这些代言女孩已成功培育了追星族。尽管读者将来可能会对此麻木——我们如今对传统广告早已无动于衷。”

That numbness is yet to kick in. For the moment, images of stylish women — and increasingly men — out and about shift product. “It’s the idea of real-life usability of the garments that draws people to our images versus catwalk looks. Seeing it in daily use really speaks to people,” argues Katz Sinding.

但这种麻木感目前仍不存在。现如今，照片中大街小巷的潮女（还有越来越多的潮男照片）不断变换衣服花样。“正是服装在现实生活中的实际效果让浏览者青睐社交媒体与博客上的照片而非它们在T型台上的形象。寻常生活中的实际穿着效果真正吸引了消费者。”Katz Sinding如此评论道。

This idea of “real life” is the strange irony of the whole movement — it’s central to its success, but disappearing because of it. “I frequently turn down big money jobs because I’m not going to look good in a brand’s stuff and I won’t feel good in it — that wouldn’t do anyone any favours,” says Sykes. “I think brands can be quite naive about that. They should be striving for authentic relationships, not just people who have the most followers.”

“现实生活版”对于整个街拍真是个奇怪的讽刺——它对于后者的成功至关重要，但自己又因为后者的存在而渐渐消亡。“我时常拒绝高额代言，因为我穿后效果一般，而且自我感觉不爽——那样对所有人都没啥好处。”赛克斯说。“我认为品牌公司有时想法太过幼稚。它们应该努力寻求接地气的合作，而非仅仅关注粉丝数最多者。”

Medine agrees. “My style is such an integral part of what I do professionally, I can’t really afford to risk the authenticity factor there,” she says. “The reason street style resonates and has become a phenomenon has everything to do with women seeing themselves in other women. The moment that jolt of authenticity is compromised and the trust between the voyeur and the wearer begins to break, the game is over.”

梅丁也同意上述看法。“本人的穿着风格是自己职业不可缺少的组成部分，我不能去冒这种让自己不接地气的风险。”她说。“街头时尚引发了时尚爱好者的强烈共鸣并成为时尚热潮的原因完全在于女性粉丝在别的女性身上看到自身形象的效果。一旦牺牲了接地气，时尚粉丝与代言人之间的信任感就开始分崩离析，这样就玩完了。”