If I start to write about Scott Schumann, you’ll probably ask “who?” And that wouldn’t surprise me, because up until recently I knew him by another name – The Sartorialist.

The Sartorialist blog is one I dip in and out of infrequently, and as its name suggests its about fashion – Schumann takes some inarguably fantastic pictures of fashion in real life.

But what has this got to do with Transform? Well, in my mind, Schumann’s blog is a fantastic example of channel shift (which you may have gathered is flavor du jour here in 60 Great Portland Street).

Traditionally, fashion as a notional way of life existed in a bubble, truly accessible to few people, those with either the money or the network to enjoy it, and restricted to the pages of glossy magazines and catwalks - fashion as the ultimate aspirational ‘brand’.

However, with the rise of the internet, and with organisations like TopShop, ASOS.com, H&M and Zara, the game has changed. The moment a model’s foot hits the runway, any number of brands are reworking, redesigning and taking influence from what they see – in many cases releasing to the public within weeks, if not days.

Yet what has this got to do with a blog by a guy called Scott? Well for a start, his site receives 70,000 hits a day and as an example of channel shift, I would argue The Sartorialist is a leader in it’s field.

With his photography, Schumann has not only moved fashion out of print media and onto the screens of thousands of people, but from the catwalk to the street. Schumann’s work captures the everyday fashion of people in cities the world over, turning the idea of a look on it’s head – no longer does the catwalk dictate what we wear, but we can dictate what appears on the catwalk. Moreover, many of us can surf for inspiration for tomorrow’s outfit, and people watch, from the comfort of our own home.

And whilst many of us may not feel stylish or cutting edge enough to include ourselves in this, the photos on the blog aren’t restricted to hipsters in Williamsburg, media-types in Soho or Fashionistas on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Schumann takes pictures of everyone, workmen in their overalls, handball players and old men sitting on park benches.

So if The Sartorialist isn’t a game-changing channel shift paradigm, I’ll eat my far from sartorially acceptable hat!

To find out more about channel shift, visit the Channel Shift Blog