Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all are enjoying your week so far. Today I am very excited for you all to read this post because it is a little change from the usual styling posts. One other thing is I am also submitting this post into an international bloggers contest with CGTrader focusing on, “Designing for the future: trends we need to consider now”. So for me, this post will be not only about the future of fashion, but I niched down, even more, to focus on influencer marketing within the fashion industry. Without any further introduction, I hope you enjoy the post and learn something new!
“ Fashion is the seaming together of art and commerce.”
Faran Krentcil
August 15th, 2006
One of my favorite moments is waiting for the mail to arrive to the house so that I could sift through it and take all of the catalogs. At that time I loved looking at JC Penney, Palais Royal, and the Macy’s catalog. I’m sure there were others but that is all I can think of at this moment. I would tear out the pictures of the outfits that I liked, so that the next time my mom and I were at the mall, I could try them on. This is how I did my shopping back then before I discovered the wonderful world of online shopping.
At that point in time, the term fashion blog was not even a thing. I was exposed to fashion because of the magazines, catalogs, and television commercials, not necessarily social media until around 2010. Even shopping online was something that happened later on for me. The platform of fashion blogging was just at its beginning stages, about to take off about four years later around 2010. Who would have know that I would be writing about clothing and styling ten years?
Autumn 2016
Its now 2016 and by this time being a fashion blogger is something that is being recognized by the fashion industry. During Milan Fashion Week Autumn of 2016, four U.S. Vogue editors published various negative comments about their views of fashion bloggers “worming” their way into the fashion industry. As you can see from the couple of comments that I have notated above, that was just a glimpse into what was said (read more about it HERE!). I get it…change is on the horizon and it’s moving away from something that you have built yourself to be. I can imagine how this could make a person or group of people feel. However, these editors go on to insult and belittle their character, business, intelligence, and everything they stand for. It is shocking how a large brand, can be so negative towards a group of individuals who are representing the industry in a similar way.
However, everyone does not embrace change the same. If the fashion industry is someplace you are working towards bringing apart of, it is a very cut-throat career path. Many of us go to school, spend countless hours of our time interning, volunteering, writing papers (or whatever it takes for your field) to make it in the industry we want to work and thrive in. So when a person with very little or no experience in the industry, is becoming successful by posting photos on their Instagram and writing about fashion, I would not blame you for being upset about it. Even if you have plenty of experience in the industry but decide to take this career path of becoming a blogger, rather than the traditional route. It can be frustrating but not everyone is meant to follow the social norms or the “traditional” path of success that we all find ourselves chasing. Posting photos and selfies on Instagram and actually building a brand are two different things. In a way, these influencers and bloggers are so much more relatable and attainable than the many celebrities that are on the cover of Vogue and other big-name magazines.
Like Aimee Song says in this post, “we’re the face of our own brands”, and there is so much work that goes into being a blogger than just posting a selfie if you want this to be a successful career. The internet and social media has shaped generations young and old, in a completely different way as to how we buy products. The internet has brought us a new idea of what an influencer is. From a business point of view, using fashion influencers to market their product to a specific audience(their readers and followers) will, in fact, have a greater return on their investment. The usual rows of celebrities and socialites packing the front rows of fashion shows are slowly being exchanged for Aimee Song, Camila Coelho, Shea Marie, Negin Mirsalehi and others of the fashion blogger world. It’s just the new nature of the fashion marketing landscape.
These bloggers have a direct connection and relationship with their readers, that is unique to their own personal brands. I would more convinced to purchase an item suggested by Lauryn Evarts of The Skinny Confidential than say, Kim Kardashian. Being a reader of The Skinny Confidential for several years, I have a different type of connection with Lauryn. I know she would never endorse a product that she did not believe in herself, or I would at least know she would give her honest opinion about it. There is that level of trust that she has built with her readership and she is known for that. The landscape of brand marketing is changing drastically as we slowly embrace the digital era. However, for a few caddy Vogue editors, it ended up being a hard no on that front. Jealousy is not a good look on ANYONE, no matter how high up you are at a company or what title you hold. I absolutely loved how these role models in the industry responded to them in a very classy, respectful way.
“Fashion reflects social movements and helps create them, too”
Faran Krentcil
Future
Where is the future of the fashion industry going? I think we are all still discovering the answer to that question. The landscape is definitely changing and so many individuals are getting on board. This new area of fashion is still growing and developing. With everyone and their mom and dog having a blog these days, marketers are hesitant putting their trust in many influencers. There is very little regulation when it comes to weeding out what is real or fake in terms of being an authentic brand/blogger. Sometimes influencers are inauthentic about their brand by buying followers, comments, likes, etc for that instant gratification. However, companies will quickly realize if your brand is fake, their return on 
investment will not meet expectations. That engagement that is falsely advertised won’t add up and the likelihood of getting more business with brands will quickly disappear.
However, for those bloggers that have the true engagement with the audience and are building this amazing brand, they will be truly successful. I recently read articles with Erica Stoleman at Fashionlush and Brittany Grace at Not Another Blonde, both commented that brands are seeking out the micro-influencer (around 15,000 or less following). Why? They have a more dedicated, committed following which again is ideal for a brand to do business with you. This is exciting for me because I fall into that demographic! Bloggers and influencers writing about a variety of topics including fashion are creating a new path in this industry. I am one that embraces change, however scary it may be, and it is very exciting to see where this new trend will lead!
If you want to learn more about the CGTrader Blogging Competition click the link HERE!
“This blog post is a part of Design Blogger Competition organized by CGTrader“
Sources/References:@peaceloveshea, @songofstyle, @brianboy, Fashioinista, Vogue Editors Article
Photo Credit: Karla Ruelas, @karlaarue
