The New Era of Fashion Bloggers

Lately, we've been seeing the emerge of fashion blogs from people that are already famous and from anonymous ones. In the last two years, the number of fashion blogs has increased wildly. But are these blogs contributing to fashion?

The Blond Salad (fashion blog by the unique Chiara Ferragni) was launched in 2009, when blogs were not yet the today phenomenon. Now, she is the most popular blogger in the world and she has been named by Business of Fashion as one of the most influential personalities of the international fashion world.

The Italian it girl has built an empire which took her to be the first-ever blogger to be the focus of a Harvard Business School case study. Last year, she made more than $10 million from website advertising, brand partnerships, and an eponymous shoe line (Chiara Ferragni Collection).

She has 5.4 million followers on Instagram, more than 14 million page views per month on her website and a staff of 20. And we can see her at every fashion week, in every fashion show. Her blog has become the number one blog in the world. Chiara Ferragni is the woman that inspired other women to launch a fashion blog but I think what motivated Chiara to launch The Blond Salad it's not the same that is motivating these new bloggers.

What I've been seeing is numerous blogs from pretty girls showing their daily outfits and enjoying some sponsorships from brands that want to gain more market recognition. Instagram has been helping these girls to gain more followers and more sponsorships. In fact, this social media is their number one source of income and suddenly everyone with some sense of style wants to launch a blog but only with one purpose: to be sponsored by fashion brands. But why these brands are using blogs to reach consumers?

4 years ago, Amanda Raye wrote an article for The Next Web saying that "nowadays, "regular" people from all over the world are becoming the biggest voices in fashion, and it all starts with a fashion blog. Fashion bloggers are fast becoming fashion influencers - a title, in the past, that was only given to celebrities. Even top designers and major labels are buying into this, requesting fashion bloggers to be at the front row of Fashion Week and other star studded events. This movement is creating a new breed of entrepreneur; where a simple love of fashion can be flipped over into a business. Savy bloggers are changing the way brands reach costumers forever, while defining trends for readers that were once only swayed by the big fashion magazines. (...) Thanks in part to the power of social media, blogging has transformed from a personal hobby into a valuable asset for brands (...) this means tons of exposure for a small price. Connecting with bloggers gives companies a new chance to reach highly targeted, passionate readers. Sometimes, money isn't even involved. Instead, casual bloggers are known to simply take free clothes and products." Fashion brands pay high prices to have bloggers sit in the front row at their fashion shows. And, beauty brands send products to bloggers directly to encourage them to test and evaluate. Some years ago, this was a valuable extra from the blog. Nobody thought that was possible to launch their own fashion careers through the web and making a living from branding themselves. According to Fashionista, a number of bloggers have signed contracts with prestigious brands as result of their fashion content creation and overall influence. But should brands think seriously about finding ways to work with fashion bloggers?

As I'm scrolling though my Instagram feed, I realize that the majority of the content I follow is fashion-related and from fashion bloggers. I've been following some portuguese bloggers and it seems like I always see the same things, the same outfits. They're different girls but the content it's identic. This happens because there's a fine line between the bloggers that document their day and the bloggers that truly want to create something out of hard work and vision. It takes a lot to satisfy the fashion world, and it's not meant for everyone. Not only do you have to have a unique style and voice, you need to have what it takes to keep up among stiff competition.

When Raquel Strada launched her blog Blue Ginger, I thought "oh no, another blog?". But as I opened the link, I immediately changed my mind and thought again "finally!". Blue Ginger is now the number one blog in Portugal. Raquel works in the fashion industry and is capable of showing the other side of the industry.

Fashion blogging has created a new era of influencers but that doesn't mean everyone is capable to contribute to the fashion industry. Simply showing daily outfits doesn't make any difference and some bloggers are just copying one another.

Laura Guimarães

Inspiration and source:

Vanity Fair

The Blonde Salad

The Next Web

This Moment

Who What Wear

Luxury Society

#people