Fashion Privacy online, can this be possible?

As all of us who surf the web know, online security these days is such a “strange” thing to manage. We can find “everything” if not “almost everything” that we can think of especially when we are trying to get the latest gossip on a fashion related icon or even a friend of school. We are definitely not secure anymore, the minute that we take the time to upload some pictures online, or write some comments on others we have to be aware that they would reach as many people who search for this topic. Another example can be when people comment on certain stuff others are able to see as well so there would always be a connection for others to find what they are looking for or might not be looking for.

 

Carolina Herrera Head designer of Herrera House

            It is incredibly easy to access anything online these days; it is very easy to find accessible and massive amounts of information specially related to famous public figures and fashion icons. In fashion this is crucial and it has affected the industry in negative ways. In 2009 a very know case went public as the designer Carolina Herrera found previews of his spring collection released to the internet before it was exposed to the public by their public relations team. Apparently people working under house of Herrera took some pictures of the fabrics they were using to construct the garments, the sketches and finalized product and decided to release it to the world before any show was programed. This is a very basic example of how something can go viral and cause a lot of trouble.   remain anonymous under this type of situations; they feel very protected by this medias when revealing information about hot trends or topics that are wanted.

  

Example of Clothing Patterns

Another very know case actually happened with a small clothing firm called Le Parisien.  People working inside their firm decided to use the Internet to share the secrets and sell patterns from their garment collections, they were pretty successful selling this couture garments and made quite decent money. I found out about this actually on a public relation firm’s Facebook website. It is incredible how even little competitors can get massive exposure by having a story out who can get the readers eye. 

Carolina Herrera Garments

            There are many stories like this where fashion labels and designers have being put on the spotlight due to invasion of privacy by their employees. It is vital to always be aware that keeping secrets is a very though thing in today's world; especially with the Internet and the accessibility people have nowadays to social media. 

Some interesting links about many privacy situations are found below (not only fashion):

http://www.opentracker.net/article/online-privacy-issues

http://www.convercent.com/thecompanyethicist/article/convercent-blog/2013/02/26/how-whistleblower-incentives-can-work-against-the-goal-of-an-ethical-workplace 

http://www.pogowasright.org/blogs/dissent/?p=1597