With Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at a close; designers, fashionistas, journalists, and bloggers alike, shed a little tear and reflect on lessons learned from the iconic event. More so than in season’s past the 2011 New York Fashion Week presented fashion trends and shows to the public at lightning fast speeds, across multiple channels, mobilized and in 140-characters-or-less. In sharp contrast to the way fashion week was covered and executed in the past, many are calling this season’s event the Fashion Week of the people.

Lessons learned from the Fall 2011 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week are much more than shoe trends, skirt lengths or the mode of lipstick color (btw, it’s bold coral). Those of us whose work revolves around “the cloud” saw a shift in paradigm, an evolution of communication, coverage and class. This event was a prime example of how social media, mobile applications and the world wide web has changed the way in which we communicate (probably forever), bringing a once exclusive event to the masses.

Twitter:

After American Express and Bobbi Brown launched a twitter microsite for the 2011 Spring New York Fashion Week, twitter has become a major player in covering the event. Yes, journalists, bloggers and others in attendance are all-a-tweet as to runway happenings but the best part of being a twitterista is receiving 140 characters straight from the designers themselves.

Streaming Video:

The star of Fall 2011 New York Fashion Week was the streaming video. Labels like G Star Raw, Diane von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs, used live video streams to bring collections to life on multiple platforms. With companies like Livestream giving real time feeds of show, backstage happenings and parties, fashion lovers can experience New York Fashion Week while sitting at their work desk (hypothetically speaking, of course).

Blogger Coverage:

This season’s event also saw more blogger coverage than ever before. It’s safe to say that bloggers are the new black. With bloggers all over fashion week, fashions and trends are presented to audiences who have been shunned in the past without their own VIP admission to the runway.

The biggest change to 2011 Fall New York Fashion Week was the technology used to run the event.With technology improving year after year, you no longer need to be Anna Wintour to get up close and personal with your favorite designer. The biggest lesson learned from fashion week; 2.0 is in and exclusivity is out.