The fashion revolution

Abstract

This chapter explores the fashion revolution of the 1990s. It discusses how the emergence of cable television with niche signals broadcasting fashion around the globe 24/7 created interest and generated a demand for fashion content that benefitted the promotional strategies of consolidated global fashion conglomerates. In this context, the Oscars rehashed the position of a fashion consultant, now renamed fashion coordinator, putting Fred Hayman in charge. As the owner of a Beverly Hills boutique and founding member of the Rodeo Drive Committee, Hayman had a personal interest in promoting the West Coast fashion scene and in developing the real estate business in Rodeo Drive for the massive disembark of high-end fashion flagship stores. This period at the Academy Awards also marked the ceremony’s return to Hollywood, into the newly built former Kodak Theatre, and the Academy’s production of its own first fashion pre-show with ABC.