It's no longer show attendees that get the first glance at fashion week looks — this season, for Rebecca Minkoff fans at least, that honor falls to the users of Snapchat. For its New York Fashion Week show at Lincoln Center on Friday afternoon, Minkoff plans to debut photos of five to 10 looks on the app a few minutes before they appear on the runway.
Snapchat is a two-year old iPhone and Android app that allows users to send messages, photos and videos that automatically self-destruct seconds after they're viewed. A company like Minkoff can't merely send a "blast" to every Snapchat user — in this instance, individuals will have to request to connect to Minkoff one by one. The designer is already soliciting friend requests on Twitter:

We're on @Snapchat! We'll exclusively reveal full #RMSPRING looks this Friday - before they hit the runway. Add us: rebeccaminkoff #nyfw
Given the technical restrictions of the app — 10 seconds isn't much of a "preview," and the friend request model isn't exactly convenient — Snapchat may not seem like the most logical place for a designer to debut part of his or her Spring 2014 collection. What Minkoff is banking on, we suspect, is the initiative's novelty factor. Companies like Taco Bell and 16 Handles have done the same, using Snapchat to market new products and coupons in recent months.
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Combining fashion week and a social media "first" has been a successful formula for brands in the past: For its Spring/Summer 2012 show, Burberry decided to debut its collection via Twitter, sending the brand's name to Twitter's list of global trending topics at the time. Other brands, including Minkoff, followed suit the next season. Burberry one-upped itself for its Fall/Winter 2012 show by premiering the collection through animated GIFs on Twitter.
By releasing looks to consumers before buyers and press attending the show, one may wonder if Minkoff is undermining the entire raison d'être of fashion week. "There's been a lot of debate this year about fashion shows and the circus around it; some people are cutting back," Uri Minkoff, the CEO of Rebecca Minkoff, tells Mashable. "We believe in a different approach. We believe the consumer is part of [fashion week], and that their inclusion is going to grow. The consumer has a voice and say in [our] brand, they should get special perks even if they can't attend the show."
Image: Mashable