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New report unveils how Twitter users discuss digital fashion — here’s what you can learn from it
”I believe this report really showcases the value of social listening,” says Lea Manthey, marketing manager for EMEA at Meltwater.
By JOHAN MAGNUSSON
26 Oct 2022

As part of Twitter’s Official Partner Program, the Norwegian-founded, global monitoring company Meltwater wanted to understand how the Fashion Industry trends are being shaped on the platform, Lea Manthey explains. The results are presented in the new report The Fashion Industry’s New Era.

— Twitter is a place where not only the fashion community, but also observers, critics, and journalists meet to talk all things fashion — drops, shows, and controversies, she says. It turns out the fashion community tweets 8.3 times more than the average Twitter user, so I’d say that these insights are super valuable for any brand looking to stay ahead of the game, she says, adding,

— I believe this report really showcases the value of social listening. It gives us the opportunity to develop smart strategies based on real-time insights, which in these turbulent times are more important than ever.

And you can also see a growing interest in tweeting about digital fashion.

— Indeed, conversations about digital fashion have increased rapidly over the last year. And it’s clear that VR and AR are gaining more cultural recognition. Across 1 million conversations that reached more than 330 million Twitter users, meta-fashion netizens (citizens of the net or net citizen, Ed’s note) focused on luxury and designer pieces like sneakers, particularly when involving well-known, high-end brands and celebrities. In our analysis we could, for instance, see a clear rise in meta-fashion conversations when Nike acquired the digital sneaker brand RTLFT. I think these big brands have been leading the development of digital fashion for quite some time now, also making the discussion of metafluencers relevant. For instance, Nike also released a campaign in 2019, where digital influencer Lil Miquela had stood up for the LGBTQ movement in a campaign with Bella Hadid.

From the report.

NFTs have had a huge impact on the fashion industry the past year, but Manthey shares that conversations that are growing even faster are conversations about the Metaverse and fashion. 

— Another interesting part of our report shows the top purchase influence factors of Twitter users that are participating in meta-fashion discussions. These meta-fashion consumers are analytical, community-minded, and philosophical, and are especially influenced by crypto traders and other blockchain pioneers and tech company CEOs such as Elon Musk. Compared to the general public, they are more likely to be impressed by a product’s utility and features than members of the global general public. 

So, what do Twitter users discuss about digital fashion?

— Our search for top meta-fashion keywords reveals that sport and athletes, as well as luxury fashion, drive the meta-fashion conversations. Twitter users discussing digital fashion in an interesting mix of sports, tech, politics and style, and it’s clear that big creators or metaverse platforms are initiating more people into the meta and digital fashion community with their contests and giveaways, says Manthey. She continues:

— We haven’t looked at specific markets for this analysis, but a Meltwater search from this spring showed us that Sweden came in third place after the US and Turkey when looking at countries discussing metafluencers the most on social and in editorial media, which might give us a hint that Sweden is in the forefront of when it comes to discussing the development towards a more digital fashion industry. I think overall we can see that the industry has regained momentum from the early COVID-19 pandemic halt, allowing the conversation about Metaverse to grow even more dynamic. It’s a new era in fashion and we can see that consumers are talking about it on Twitter, a lot. Brands that want to be at the forefront should capitalize on this development.

From the report: ”Sustainability is one of the hottest topics — but the context has changed from a focus of general discussion to a solution-oriented conversation highlighting DIY projects and conscious choices.

Key insights

— The fashion community tweets 8.3 times more than the average Twitter user and VR and AR are gaining more cultural recognition.

— Meta-fashion consumers are analytical, community-minded, and philosophical, and are especially influenced by crypto traders and other blockchain pioneers and tech company CEOs such as Elon Musk.

— Compared to the general public, they are more likely to be impressed by a product’s utility and features than members of the global general public. 


In December, Meltwater will present an ebook about Marketing Trends 2023. Manthey shares a sneak peek.

— I think one of the hottest is Social audio, such as podcast and e-books. We saw this as a trend for 2022 and we know that social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are investigating how to include this trend and user needs in their platforms — I am curious to see what 2023 has to offer.