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Digital discourse in the fashion industry
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Digital discourse in the fashion industry
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Content
DIGITAL DISCOURSE IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY
by
Irene Bischofberger
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND
JOURNALISM
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS)
August 2020
Copyright 2020 Irene Bischofberger
ii
Dedication
For everyone who has completed their goals years after making them, it doesn’t matter
the pace as long as you finish the race.
iii
Acknowledgments
Writing long papers has never been my strong suit, so publishing this thesis is a huge
accomplishment for me. While it took longer than I originally planned, I’m incredibly proud of
the final product and the insights it provides in regards to the fashion industry. I would not have
been able to cross this finish line without the help of so many people who encouraged me along
the way.
The Public Relations department at USC Annenberg is the finest program in the country,
and I learned how to become an effective communicator because of it. This program elevated my
skills from mediocre to extraordinary and provided me with amazing experiences. I want to
thank my peers who were my cheerleaders and constantly inspired me throughout our two years
together. Additionally, this paper wouldn’t have been possible without my thesis committee. I’d
like to thank Matthew LeVeque, Jennifer Floto, and Brenda Lynch for guiding me along the way.
They spent countless hours reviewing my paper, providing feedback, and motivating me
throughout this time. Their reassurances and help drove me across the finish line. Also, thank
you to Katie Durko who was kind enough to let me interview her for this project. I learned a lot
from her and am grateful that she spoke to me about her experiences.
My dear friend Rebecca Re was kind enough to read through my paper multiple times
and edit it alongside me. Her insightful perspective strengthened this paper, and I’m forever
appreciative of her help. Lastly, I’d like to thank my parents for their continuous support over the
years. They knew I could finish this thesis one day and were with me every step of the way. I
would not be where I am today without them.
iv
Table of Contents
Dedication........................................................................................................................................ii
Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................iii
List of Tables...................................................................................................................................v
List of Figures.................................................................................................................................vi
Abstract...........................................................................................................................................ix
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Chapter 1: The Evolution of the Fashion Industry...........................................................................5
Chapter 2: The Rise of Social Media.............................................................................................27
Chapter 3: The Impact of Bloggers, Vloggers, and Influencers....................................................40
Chapter 4: The Digital Impact During Fashion Month..................................................................74
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................94
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................96
Appendix A..................................................................................................................................116
v
List of Tables
Table 1: Most Followed Bloggers & Fashion Publications...........................................................82
vi
List of Figures
Figure 1: King Louis’s Bold Sense of Style....................................................................................6
Figure 2: Alexander McQueen’s Frankenstein-Inspired Look........................................................9
Figure 3: Ball Gown by Charles Frederick Worth.........................................................................10
Figure 4: Macy’s First Department Store......................................................................................12
Figure 5: First Issue of Harper’s Bazaar.......................................................................................14
Figure 6: Coco Chanel Donning a LBD........................................................................................17
Figure 7: Runway Show During Press Week................................................................................18
Figure 8: Twiggy Wearing a Minidress.........................................................................................20
Figure 9: David Bowie Wearing Kansai Yamamoto.....................................................................21
Figure 10: Ballerina Skirt in Sex in the City..................................................................................23
Figure 11: Fashion Snapshot from ‘Gangnam Style’ Music Video...............................................24
Figure 12: Glossier Responding to a Question on Instagram........................................................32
Figure 13: Louis Vuitton’s Facebook Live Stream of its Runway Show......................................33
Figure 14: Burberry’s Instagram Invitation for its Fashion Show.................................................34
Figure 15: Kimberly Lapides’s Fashion Pinterest Page.................................................................35
Figure 16: Chriselle Lim’s Summer Essentials YouTube Video...................................................36
Figure 17: Snapchat Q&A with Everlane Employees...................................................................37
Figure 18: Susie Lau’s Style Bubble Home Page..........................................................................41
Figure 19: BryanBoy Pose Used for Fendi Ad..............................................................................43
Figure 20: BryanBoy Front Row with Anna Wintour...................................................................44
Figure 21: Rumi Neely’s Simplistic Style.....................................................................................45
Figure 22: Kelly Framel Showcasing the Coach Duffle Sac.........................................................47
vii
Figure 23: Susie Lau Discloses Coach Partnership.......................................................................48
Figure 24: Tavi Gevinson Seated Front Row at the Rodarte Fall Show........................................50
Figure 25: Aimee Song’s Facebook Post.......................................................................................51
Figure 26: Zoe Sugg’s First Haul Video........................................................................................53
Figure 27: Fashion Editor Laurie Brookins’s #NYFW Tweet.......................................................54
Figure 28: Paola Alberdi’s #OOTD Instagram Post......................................................................55
Figure 29: Karlie Kloss Tagging Fashion Brands on Instagram....................................................56
Figure 30: Leandra Medine’s Humorous Blog Headlines.............................................................59
Figure 31: Chiara Ferragni’s #TheBlondeSaladGoesToHarvard Announcement.........................60
Figure 32: Fans Upset Over Emily Schuman’s Inauthentic Content.............................................62
Figure 33: Edited Image and Original Image of Dana Suchow.....................................................63
Figure 34: Lucky’s Fashion Bloggers February 2015 Cover.........................................................64
Figure 35: Aimee Song’s Laura Mercier Cosmetics Post..............................................................66
Figure 36: Instagram Poll for Tommy and Gigi’s 2017 Collection...............................................67
Figure 37: Revolve Instagram Post Highlighting an Influencer Trip............................................68
Figure 38: Jenn Im Launching Her EGGIE Clothing Line on YouTube.......................................69
Figure 39: Aimee Song’s Instagram Stories Poll During Paris Fashion Week.............................71
Figure 40: Volume of Social Content from 2016 to 2018.............................................................76
Figure 41: Most Popular Content Source.......................................................................................77
Figure 42: Top Hashtags for 2016 September Fashion Month......................................................78
Figure 43: Top Hashtags for 2018 September Fashion Month......................................................79
Figure 44: Topic Wheel for 2016 September Fashion Month.......................................................80
Figure 45: Topic Wheel for 2018 September Fashion Month.......................................................83
viii
Figure 46: Jenny McCarthy PR Pitch Results................................................................................88
Figure 47: KKW Fragrance Chocolate Heart Press Box...............................................................90
Figure 48: Karla Welch’s Vanity Fair Party Instagram Post.........................................................92
ix
Abstract
Fashion was once a one-sided industry that featured garments in magazines for readers to
consume or department store mannequins sporting full ensembles, but the rise of social media
changed this when it empowered consumers to produce their own fashion content. This thesis
provides an in-depth understanding of the impact that social media has had on the fashion
industry and how the evolution of Web 2.0 paved the way for fashion bloggers. While social
media has many connotations, for this thesis, social media will be defined as “forms of electronic
communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users
create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content,” as
stated by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. This paper analyzes the ways brands and publications
have shifted their strategies to incorporate digital media as a means of promotion, rather than
solely applying traditional media tactics such as distributing press releases, communicating story
angles, and pitching to reporters. This transition in communications has laid the foundation for
bloggers to rise in prominence and recognition.
Because this industry targets such a broad audience, this paper focuses specifically on the
women’s fashion industry. Content analysis was done using Crimson Hexagon, a social media
analytics program, to track social media data surrounding both the 2016 and 2018 fall fashion
weeks in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. This data was then examined to understand the
effect that social media platforms have had on fashion brands and publications.
1
Introduction
Whether someone is a devoted fashionista who views clothing as art or an average man
or woman who simply chooses different pieces to wear each day, fashion finds its way into
almost every person’s life, making the architects of this industry incredibly influential. Within its
Consumer Discretionary sector, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services (S&P) classifies “fashion”
as the Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods industry. This includes manufacturers of apparel,
accessories, footwear, luxury goods (designer handbags, wallets, luggage, jewelry, and watches),
and textile or related products not specifically classified. As of 2015, this industry was valued at
$1.3 trillion globally and is forecasted to grow to $1.5 trillion in 2020 (O'Connell).
Prior to social media, experts such as fashion designers and journalists working for
publications like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, or Elle usually dictated trends. In 1937, Italian
designer Elsa Schiaparelli dressed one of her models in a pink so intense it became known as
“shocking pink.” During an era of bleak and lackluster clothing, Schiaparelli set the precedent
for wearing bold and vibrant apparel by encouraging others to wear pink. While Schiaparelli
decided what was in, Mr. Blackwell, a critic who created the annual “10 Worst Dressed Women”
list in the 1960s, decided what was out. His controversial remarks could ruin a designer’s name
and reputation, along with the celebrity’s.
The fashion industry has often been at the forefront of change, and as such has been eager
to embrace new forms of communication. Posting on social media became one of the easiest
ways for designers to elevate their collection’s prestige without much cost. When social
platforms first emerged in the late 1990s, communications and marketing professionals were
skeptical over their longevity and thought it was a phase that would eventually die off. Created in
1997, SixDegrees.com was the first social media platform to connect people and, and since then,
2
at least one new social application has appeared every year (Shah). Now, the exponential growth
of social media has become difficult to ignore. It has changed the role of the consumer from
someone who passively views content to someone who can create and amplify content by
endorsing it through likes, shares, retweets, and so forth. Thus, the consumer has evolved into an
essential component of the modern communications ecosystem. Moreover, the communications
landscape of social media has become much more dynamic and robust. It is no longer simply a
one-way communication system because it provides for multiple and simultaneous interactions
on a global scale. The result of this shift in the industry is fashion bloggers.
Fashion bloggers accumulate millions of followers on social media by publishing visually
appealing content along with their commentary about apparel, street fashion, and haute couture.
Chiara Ferragni is currently the most-followed fashion blogger on Instagram with 21.2 million
total followers across all social platforms. In 2015, she became the highest-paid fashion blogger
with earnings of $7 million and was paid an average of $19,500 per post on her Instagram
(Darwin). Along with getting brand partnerships, creating fashion lines, and becoming a
contributor for some of the top publications, Ferragni is often spotted sitting front row at Chanel,
Kenzo, and Louis Vuitton collection debuts. More recently, she has shifted her purpose to
become a public health advocate, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. Sitting in the epicenter
of the European outbreak, Ferragni urged her followers to stay home as she and her family went
into a government-mandated lockdown in Milan. While other bloggers and influencers shared
inspirational quotes, she went with the facts and consulted with experts like Professor Alberto
Zangrillo, head of the cardiovascular and general intensive care department at Milan’s San
Raffaele Hospital. Additionally, she and her husband started a GoFundMe page for the Milan-
based hospital which resulted in raising over $4.8 million (DeSantis). Explaining her intentions,
3
Ferragni shared, “From a huge voice, comes a huge responsibility. I’m trying my best to help my
country and do what’s right for the people because I feel it’s my responsibility.” She has shown
that social media can be used as a place to educate, ignite real change, and connect and inspire
others when they need it most.
The rise of social media and the evolution of bloggers have each created another avenue
for the fashion industry, that being brand ambassadors, people who are paid by companies to
endorse a specific product or service. Bloggers that become brand ambassadors promote a
specific brand of clothing, although they are not limited to posting only about that brand; they
continue to post personal and genuine insight about other brands or designer collections as well.
The fashion industry has realized the potential a blogger has because they are trusted by
consumers almost the same amount as friends are trusted. Since several prominent bloggers are
people who had other full-time jobs and happened to love fashion as a hobby, their journey to
fame has come across as authentic. While they didn’t start out sitting front row at Chanel, they
worked their way there as their ever-increasing number of followers propelled them up the ladder
of success. Every blogger has a different personality, but once consumers find a connection with
a certain blogger, they often will invest more time into that blogger’s content and develop a bond
with that person. Consumers are more likely to trust someone in whom they see a reflection of
themselves, further emphasizing the personal connection that can be created in the mind of the
powerful consumer. Due to the strong relationship a blogger has with her/his audience,
consumers are more likely to buy a piece of clothing based on their favorite blogger’s
recommendations rather than because they read about it in a magazine. With this change in
influence, designers seat more bloggers in the front row at fashion shows, the most coveted seats
4
in the industry, which has resulted in publications struggling to maintain their influence and
relevancy as fashion bloggers have become the go-to place for advice and inspiration.
Public relations (PR) practitioners should note the effects that social media has had on the
fashion industry because these changes have revolutionized the way people interact with brands.
These social platforms have allowed for a dress seen on the runway in Paris to be instantly seen
by people in multiple places around the globe and have permitted anyone and everyone to share
opinions about it. Social media and the development of fashion bloggers have created a shift in
communications, giving more control to the individual consumer.
5
Chapter 1: The Evolution of the Fashion Industry
Fashion has been described as “the prevailing style (as in dress) during a particular time,”
but it has far surpassed this definition and become fully engrained in our modern society
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Fashion has been used to display a person’s identity, illustrate
different cultures, and express messages without words. When Disney animators sketched
Cinderella’s ball gown in the 1950s, they were emulating a timeless romantic mood that has
since inspired millions of brides around the world. Audrey Hepburn’s donning of a “little black
dress” (LBD) in Breakfast at Tiffany’s resulted in the dress becoming a must-have item in every
woman’s closet. While filming the political drama Scandal, Kerry Washington’s iconic white
coats brought a touch of chic that elevated modern office attire. While some critics have claimed
that the fashion world is filled with superficial ideology and meaningless clothing, the
development of this industry throughout the centuries has illustrated otherwise and shown the
impact it has had on society.
17
th
Century: 1601 – 1700
While currently Paris is known as the “fashion capital” of the world, this has not always
been the case. During the Golden Age from the 16
th
century into the 17
th
century, Spain was the
top ruler and thus the fashion capital was established in Madrid. It wasn’t until 1643, when King
Louis XIV of France took the throne, that a shift occurred. At that time, the French imported
their fabrics, dye, and luxury goods from Spain, but King Louis was determined to change this.
He did so by creating textile, clothing, jewelry, and furniture industries in France which provided
jobs for his people and established France as a leader with a focus on fashion. Under his reign,
one-third of Parisian workers became specialized clothing tradesmen. Following the success of
6
his business ventures, he transformed Versailles, a run-down hunting lodge, into a royal
residence that showcased French culture, including art, music, fashion, theater, cuisine, and even
gardening. The dress code was strict and required court dress which guaranteed a steady market
for extravagant French gowns, coats, jewels, and shoes. As France became more dominant both
politically and economically, King Louis continued his native fashion campaign to further prove
France’s power. Recognizing that pictures had the power to shape perception, he commissioned
French artists to create illustrations that promoted the clothing. The copy that went along with
pictures was sarcastic and amusing, aimed at the affluent, well-educated French population. This
idea laid the foundation for the magazine publications we see today such as Harper’s Bazaar,
Vogue, Glamour, and Elle.
Figure 1: King Louis’s Bold Sense of Style
Source: History Channel
Known as “The Sun King,” King Louis wore dramatic outfits, pictured above in Figure 1,
that were often colorful and decorative, which was the opposite of the Spanish style. His bold
7
fashion choices, curls, and signature red shoes enabled him to become the king of couture for his
country. While King Louis was successfully transferring power from Spain to France, his finance
minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, was exploring ways to monetize the clothing industry. Colbert
instructed that new looks should appear twice a year, seasonally, to encourage people to purchase
additional products on an expected schedule. The clothing changed each season to match the
weather, so parasols and fans were created for summer, and furs and muffs were created for the
winter. Since France’s weather changed constantly, there was always a need for new items.
Other countries noticed France’s positive financial results and started to enforce similar seasonal
schedules as well. The seasonality of clothing is still present today with different fashion
collections being shown during fall, winter, spring, and summer. While not all his reforms
remained intact after the end of his reign in 1715, King Louis’s legacy was marked by the impact
he had on the French textile industry, which remains a strong part of the country’s culture today.
18
th
Century: 1701 – 1800
Beginning in the 18
th
century, Great Britain entered the textile business as the country
began researching ways to mass-produce products. Their economy continued to thrive due to the
country’s colonies in North America and its major political power in the West Indies and India.
Spinners, weavers, and dyers worked in small workshops where goods were painstakingly
produced by hand. Textile innovations such as the power loom, spinning jenny, and flying
shuttle started to emerge. These were all mechanisms that made spinning thread and weaving
cloth more efficient – and much more rapid. Creating the fabric for clothes became faster and
required less human labor, which allowed Britain to meet the growing demand from textile
consumers local and abroad.
8
Meanwhile, an Englishman named Samuel Slater had migrated from Britain to the newly
minted United States (US) and brought a few new textile innovations along with him, such as a
large spinning machine known as a water frame. This type of British technology migrated to the
US to be used in cotton mills as the colonies continued to grow, but the country had its own
domestic inventions as well. Eli Whitney was a US-born engineer who created the cotton gin, a
machine that removed cotton seeds from raw cotton fiber. This machine sped up the process of
spinning cotton and shortened the amount of time it took to make clothing. While Britain and the
US sped along, each trying to become more industrialized than the other, the Revolution in
France stifled the country’s power and progress.
19
th
Century: 1801 – 1900
As the Industrial Revolution continued into the early 19
th
century, it changed how
products were created and distributed. Machines fashioned books together quickly, whereas,
before the Industrial Revolution, they were sewn and painted by hand. This change assisted
publishers in selling to the masses, which provided more women the opportunity to read.
Monarchs and key political leaders led the way in setting fashion trends, but that changed for
women when English novelist Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a gothic novel, was published in
1818. Her story illustrated medieval and Tudor fashion and reintroduced the corset to British
women. Inspired from literature, many women began to incorporate corsets back into their
outfits to highlight their waistlines and bodices. Frankenstein has had a massive impact on
fashion throughout the years, with many high-end designers using the book as inspiration for
their collections. For example, Alexander McQueen, a British fashion house, used Frankenstein
9
for inspiration when he created a collection of leather bodices and visible stitching for his
Spring/Summer 1999 collection shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Alexander McQueen’s Frankenstein-Inspired Look
Source: Vogue
As literature ingrained itself in popular culture during the 19
th
century, technological
advancements also brought photography to the forefront. In 1839, French artist Louis-Jacques-
Mandé Daguerre invented the daguerreotype, the process of producing images on a silvered
copper plate, thus establishing the art of taking pictures. Though the process only produced one
photograph, it created a blossoming market for portraitures, as this was the first time people
could capture an exact representation of themselves. Celebrities wanted to have their photos
taken and designers saw it as an opportunity to advertise their clothing by dressing famous
people.
10
One designer who recognized the impact photography had on the fashion industry was
Englishman Charles Frederick Worth. He had apprenticed in London but relocated to Paris in
1845 to develop his craft as a high-end dressmaker. After years of being an apprentice and then a
salesman, Worth opened his own business in 1858. Visible in Figure 3, his one-of-a-kind dress
designs were quite fancy and often included lavish fabrics, decadent details, and trimmings of
lace, fringe, and tassels.
Figure 3: Ball Gown by Charles Frederick Worth
Source: Europeana Collections
He changed the way clothes were shown to customers as the first designer to use women, later
known as models, to display his dresses rather than using mannequins. He prepared a variety of
designs and exhibited his collection at his store in Paris. His clients would often travel to the city
to purchase their entire dress wardrobe from him. Women expected Worth to supply gowns for
everything from morning to night to tea time to special balls, and many of these ladies wouldn’t
even consider other clothing options unless they had been presented in Paris because of the city’s
11
illustrious reputation. His customers would see his collection and decide which dresses they
wanted, and then his team of seamstresses would meticulously create the garment stitch-by-
stitch. While his ornate designs emulated a lavish lifestyle, dozens of employees were in the back
room working tirelessly with little pay until all the dresses were completed.
The gowns Worth created were photographed and images were distributed in newspapers
to locals and patrons abroad as a way for him to promote his brand and highlight his role as a
designer. Worth’s popularity continued to rise, and he began dressing famous theater actresses
and opera singers, such as Lillie Langtry, Sarah Bernhardt, and Jenny Lind. The demand for
Worth’s clothing became so great that he decided to make high-fashion more widely available to
the masses by selling his designs to dressmakers, newly-invented department stores, and clothing
manufacturers. While Worth and his team still created custom gowns for celebrities and certain
high-end clients, people could walk into a store and buy his latest designs without having to pay
extravagantly. Worth became known as the “Father of Haute Couture” because of his exquisite
hand-stitched clothes and the modern changes he introduced to the fashion world. Today,
according to the fashion media company Business of Fashion, to qualify as an official Haute
Couture house, “members must design made-to-order clothes for private clients…using an atelier
(workshop) that employs at least fifteen fulltime staff…present a collection of no less than 50
original designs — both day and evening garments — to the public every season, in January and
July.” This makes the barrier of entry incredibly high; however, when a designer qualifies,
he/she becomes a member of this elite club.
Another new development during the 19
th
century, because of the Industrial Revolution,
was the notion of department stores. New manufacturing processes changed the types of products
that were available to consumers, introducing a wider range of options, and increasing
12
competition between brands. This resulted in a need for larger stores to house the goods and
make them available to consumers so that the economy could grow. Rowland Hussey Macy’s
New York City department store later became one of the solutions as an “it” shopping
destination for consumers. Between 1843 and 1855, Macy, an American businessman, opened
several dry goods stores in Boston but they all failed. In hopes of finding success, he moved to
California to search for gold during the Gold Rush but returned home with disappointment. After
moving back to Massachusetts, he opened yet another store with his brother. When this one was
met with modest success, Macy decided to head to New York City in 1858 to open a dry goods
store, displayed in Figure 4, on the corner of 14
th
Street and 6
th
Avenue (Hanson).
Figure 4: Macy’s First Department Store
Source: Macy’s
On its first-day his store, R.H. Macy & Co. sold $11.06 worth of merchandise but by the end of
the first year, its sales had grossed approximately $85,000 (“History: Macy's Inc.”). As the
business grew, Macy leased 11 adjacent buildings to sell different categories of products ranging
from clothing to jewelry to furniture, which created what is known today as a department store.
This shifted how people shopped and decreased the popularity of specialty stores that only sold
one type of garment.
13
Macy leveraged his past experiences to become a master of publicity using tactics such as
themed store exhibits, an in-store Santa Claus during the holidays, and lighted window displays
to attract consumers in from off the streets. Other revolutionary strategies of his included
operating as a cash-only store, using a one-price system, whereas other shops often operated on
the practice of bargaining, and offering money-back guarantees to shoppers who were
dissatisfied with their purchases. In 1878, the New York Times perfectly captured the store’s
appeal: “the universality of the stock, almost every article of dress and household furniture being
for sale there, and at the most reasonable prices.” The company has since grown to over 600
stores worldwide and made over $24 billion in net sales during 2018, according to the latest sales
information available (Smith). Macy’s continued success has led to a world-renowned brand that
sells everything from shoes to bedding.
While Macy’s was designed to be affordable for lower-to-middle class Americans,
Bloomingdale’s was created to be a luxury department store. Joseph and Lyman Bloomingdale
were two American brothers who trained at their father’s female clothing store in the mid-1800s
before deciding to create their own business. In 1872, they opened Bloomingdale’s in New York
City and sold a wide variety of European fashion pieces ranging from dresses to skirts to blouses.
Throughout the mid-1800s into the early 1900s, department stores continued to emerge across
the globe with high-end stores such as Le Bon Marché launching in Paris and Selfridge’s
opening in London. These stores felt like an extension of women’s homes by offering
comfortable ambiances and luxurious sitting areas, which created places for women to socialize
with each other and gave them an excuse to get out of their houses. Shopping no longer was a
chore filled with multiple stops and lots of bargaining, but rather it had become a one-stop-shop
14
where prices were fixed and women had their choice from endless – and ever-changing – product
offerings.
Fashion magazines also emerged in the 19
th
century to bridge the gap between femininity
and an ever-growing consumerist society. In the early 1800s, the role of a woman was to be a
homemaker, but as women frequented department stores, cafés, and trains more often, additional
images of women’s fashion were published in journals, pamphlets, and newspapers.
Glamourized photos of women in beautiful clothing were used as a marketing vehicle to
encourage women to purchase goods. Illustrated in Figure 5, one of the first American female-
focused fashion publications was Harper’s Bazaar.
Figure 5: First Issue of Harper’s Bazaar
Source: Harper’s Bazaar
Founded in 1867, the weekly magazine showcased the lives of women through the lens of
fashion and art. Ironically, the magazine was started by four men after one of them, Fletcher
15
Harper, was inspired by seeing a copy of Der Bazar, a Berlin fashion publication. The magazine
illustrated what women were wearing in Paris, Vienna, London, and other European cities.
Recognizing that the Industrial Revolution had caused Americans to obsess over all things
European, Harper concluded that an American magazine like Der Bazar aimed at wealthy
women could be adopted as a guide on how to live life in a modern world. While the first issue
included sketches of clothes, it went beyond fashion and included poetry, fictional stories,
columns on French society, etiquette tips, and covered politics. The publication was the first to
endorse the women’s suffrage movement, shed light on the importance of education for women,
and declared being a homemaker bordered the line of being an indentured servant to one’s
husband. At its core, however, the publication was used as a style resource for women and even
featured an issue on Charles Frederick Worth highlighting his contributions to haute couture.
Women could leave their lives as homemakers and enter a fantasy world through the glossy
pages of Harper’s Bazaar. Though the magazine has shifted to a monthly cadence in present-
day, it still targets fashion, beauty, and politics, and is read by more than 700,000 people globally
(“Harper's BAZAAR Media Kit”). As other publishers recognized the impact women had on
consumerism in the late 1800s, additional female-oriented magazines were produced to target
female shoppers with product offerings and fashion advice.
20
th
Century: 1901 – 2000
When World War I (WWI) broke out in 1914, it caused women to work in the public
sector while their husbands served in combat. Fashion itself became more structured and took on
a military approach, which paled in comparison to the tight bodices women had been wearing.
One fashion designer who was set on abolishing the corset was Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel. In the
16
early 1900s, Chanel stepped into the fashion sphere around the age of 20 when she became a
seamstress in central France. She was a singer in cafes at night to make additional money, and it
was there that she acquired the nickname “Coco” after a song she frequently sang. By 1910, she
had set up her first shop at 21 Rue Cambon in Paris where she crafted hats and headwear
(McDowell). Her fame quickly rose when French actress Gabrielle Dorziat was photographed
wearing one of Chanel’s creations. While fashion trends were changing, dressing celebrities
remained a pivotal opportunity that clothiers vied for since the right photo of a famous person in
one of their designs could make or break them, depending on how glowing or sour the review
was.
In 1913, Chanel opened a clothing boutique in Normandy where she began to liberate
women with her sporty, chic style and mannish collections. She introduced shockingly simple
designs that favored comfort over opulence. Two of her most famous contributions to female
society were trousers and the little black dress (LBD). Chanel’s love for trousers and the eminent
fact that women were working during WWI inspired her to design slacks for women to wear
while they did daily activities or played sports. Her practical yet elegant designs led to pants
becoming more of a fashion statement. While the LBD is a wardrobe staple that still exists today,
back then, it was a radical declaration to the fashion community. Black was usually associated
with mourning, and women were used to dresses that were dripping in jewels. Chanel’s creations
were modest with very minimal detailing. Instead, Chanel elevated the look with costume
jewelry ranging from strings of pearls to thick bracelets, encouraging women to embellish their
outfits with affordable accessories. She wanted to uplift women and free them from the
constraints that society had forced on them, and she used fashion to express that independence,
17
though she sometimes struggled with topping her previous designs as she continued to formulate
new collections.
Figure 6: Coco Chanel Donning a LBD
Source: Marie Claire UK
Although Paris remained a focal point for fashionistas, by the mid-1900s New York City
had established itself as America’s fashion capital, ranking high with Paris, London, and Milan.
While magazine journalists only wanted to see the collections that were being shown abroad, this
was impossible due to World War II (WWII). To rectify the problem, fashion publicist Eleanor
Lambert created the first Press Week -- later known as New York Fashion Week (NYFW) -- in
1943 to showcase American designers who had received little to no coverage from the national
or international press. US designers and editors had previously used Parisian fashion as their
inspiration. This time American designers showcased their American-influenced apparel created
from American-made fabrics to an audience of media, including editors from New York and
abroad. Unlike in Paris, buyers weren’t allowed to watch the New York shows and instead had to
make showroom visits to see the designer’s collection. Rather than today’s practice of editors,
18
buyers, bloggers, and influencers frantically zigzagging throughout a city to see each show,
Lambert had the shows come to the editors by having all the collections debut at the Plaza Hotel.
Figure 7 captures one of the shows that occurred during the first Press Week. Her plan was a
huge success with American fashion designers finally being taken seriously as Harper’s Bazaar
and Vogue, another American women’s fashion and lifestyle magazine, printed stories about US-
based designers.
Figure 7: Runway Show During Press Week
Source: Smithsonian Magazine
Two years later, Ruth Finley, who at the time was an intern at the New York Herald
Tribune, noticed the immense popularity of Press Week and approached Lambert with the idea
of creating a Fashion Calendar. Agreeing with Finley’s idea, Lambert had her create an annual
agenda to ensure that designer’s showtimes didn’t overlap with one another. Designers only
needed to call Finley and ask to be put on the calendar, a stark contrast to today where designers
are constantly battling for a chance to be given any slot during the coveted event. The Fashion
Calendar was critical because it allowed brands to plan and invite certain press to their shows in
advance, knowing who else was debuting their collection at the same time. It created more
organization within the industry and created an iconic week, NYFW, that still happens annually
19
and is followed by fashion weeks in other metropolitan cities including London, Milan, and
Paris.
As the fame of American designers continued to grow, Britain’s youth culture was
flourishing across the Atlantic with post-WWII optimism. The 1960s, later dubbed the
“Swinging Sixties,” included color blocking, hand-painted prints, and the introduction of the
miniskirt. Mary Quant, a British clothing buyer, had been persuaded by her then-boyfriend to
start selling her own designs, particularly the skirts she created with a cut six inches above the
knee. Although Quant wasn’t the first person to shorten the hem of her skirt since French
designer André Courrèges was already doing it in Paris, she was the first to invent the term
“miniskirt,” naming it after her favorite car, “the Mini.” One of the decade’s most renowned
models, Sandra Paul, observed that Quant’s style “was simply the only look anyone cared
about.” Quant designed loose shapes and wore T-shirts made from jersey material. Due to her
popularity, she became her own best ambassador, a foreshadowing to present-day bloggers and
influencers, as she donned her designs and marketed them to consumers. By 1963, she had
become so successful with her designs that she began mass-producing her miniskirts and
exporting them to the United States, which catapulted the mini into widespread fame and
resulted in other designers creating their own versions of miniskirts and minidresses.
Additionally, an English model named Twiggy became a British cultural icon during the
“Swinging Sixties” when she wore a shorted minidress. The frock, seen in Figure 8, was simple
with a baby doll style and high waist but it was the hemline that was revolutionary. Twiggy
showed off her long legs in the mini style and became a symbol for mod fashion often sporting
geometric patterns, stripes, polka-dots, and tight boots. She was named “The Face of 1966” by
the Daily Express newspaper, and her dramatic eyes, long eyelashes, and short hair appeared in
20
fashion magazines, product campaigns, and in-store advertisements across Europe and the
United States. She became a global cultural icon whom many consider to be the actual first
supermodel.
Figure 8: Twiggy Wearing a Minidress
Source: StyleCaster
The Brits continued to set the fashion trends with glam, glitter, and rock ‘n roll taking
center stage. While literature had intertwined with fashion over the last couple of decades, the
tail end of the 20
th
century was when music began to impact the industry. Stage costumes
became essential for pop stars like Elton John and David Bowie. The bigger the star meant the
higher the platform boots bedazzled in sparkles, sequins, and feathers. Both celebrities wanted
costumes that enhanced their performances and matched their androgynous stage personas. One
person whom Bowie often worked with for his shows was Japanese fashion designer Kansai
Yamamoto. In 1971, Yamamoto’s colorful and avant-garde collection debuted in London with
the designer conducting the show onstage as if he was conducting an orchestra. He was known
21
for his mix of elaborate designs and pop graphics, which resulted in space-age-inspired jumpsuits
and vibrantly-printed kimonos. Bowie noticed the bold designs in London and asked Yamamoto
to create all of his stage outfits for his Aladdin Sane and Ziggy Stardust shows (seen in Figure 9).
Figure 9: David Bowie Wearing Kansai Yamamoto
Source: Fashion: A Visual History from Regency & Romance to Retro & Revolution
Dressing the iconic star in 1973 led to Yamamoto being invited to show his collection in Paris in
1975 which was a prestigious honor, especially for a non-Parisian designer. These events marked
Japan’s debut into the global fashion world, and the country’s influence on the industry has only
continued to grow throughout the 20
th
century and into the 21
st
century with kimonos, cranes,
flower blossoms, and other cultural aspects being incorporated into shows by designers
Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint-Laurent (YSL).
22
The remaining decades of the 20
th
century saw wildly popular fashion trends and icons
come and go. Enormously-padded shoulders on glitzy jackets were worn by rocker Cyndi Lauper
and TV megastars like Joan Collins in the ‘80s. The ‘90s saw several short-lived trends such as
the Seattle-born “grunge” look featuring torn jeans, leather garb, and Doc Martens which was led
by the iconic heavy metal groups, especially the legendary Kurt Cobain. Additionally, tartan
plaid skirts were made popular in the same decade by Britney Spears and Jennifer Aniston, along
with the emergence of streetwear and reversed baseball caps. However, none had the staying
power to dominate an entire decade until the 21
st
century hit.
21
th
Century: 2001 – Present Day
Popular culture continued to influence the fashion industry with Sex and the City, an
American comedy-drama television show, depicting women as empowered shoppers who each
had their own unique style. Patricia Field, the stylist behind the hit show, introduced various
trends to audiences worldwide by dictating fashion through her characters. Ballerina skirts,
shown in Figure 10, were in the opening credits to show that women didn’t have to be a ballerina
to wear tulle. A cropped hairdo became the “it” haircut of the summer after one of the main
characters rocked the fiery style with ease. Manolo Blahnik, a Spanish footwear designer,
became a household name after the brand was the only shoes the main character wore. From
women’s pantsuits to color blocking to namesake necklaces, the show became one of the most
fashion-forward programs on-air and has continued to inspire designers and shoppers even after
its last season in 2004. Celebrities such as actress Nicole Kidman walked the red carpet at the
Cannes Film Festival layered in tulle skirts, models including Cara Delevingne chopped their
23
hair making a bold stylistic choice, and Manolo Blahnik shoes with their crystal-encrusted, satin
look became a must-have for every high-end fashionista.
Figure 10: Ballerina Skirt in Sex in the City
Source: Harper’s Bazaar
The 2000s became a mash-up of fashion trends ranging from African tribal prints to
Arab-inspired metallic dresses to sneaker street style to designer logo-printed clothes. Due to
globalization and the dot-com boom, Middle Eastern and Asian styles were incorporated into
mainstream American and European trends because people could research online and view
fashion looks from all around the world. This global accessibility connected people to countries
outside of their home nation, which bridged the gap between different cultures. One of the
biggest results from this was the obsession with Korean culture which still is a focus for many
fashion and beauty gurus today. Since the pop-hit ‘Gangnam Style’ exploded onto the music
scene in 2012, South Korea has been noticed for its music, fashion, and beauty innovations. The
song was inspired by the Gangnam District in Seoul, South Korea and showed various styles of
clothing ranging from mini patterned dresses to brightly-colored sweats and tops. Observed in
24
Figure 11, the colors and types of clothing were unlike anything Western culture had seen
before, and it became an instant topic of conversation. The global buzz surrounding South Korea
has remained constant over the last eight years with K-beauty, K-fashion, and K-pop, known as
Korean popular music, becoming key components of modern popular culture.
Figure 11: Fashion Snapshot from ‘Gangnam Style’ Music Video
Source: YouTube
In recent years, contemporary fashion has taken off in Korea with Seoul Fashion Week
being held twice a year. During this global event, editors, buyers, celebrities, bloggers, and
influencers can see stylish Korean models wearing a variety of colors, patterns, and shapes
ranging from casual streetwear to ensembles that replicate the look of a porcelain doll. Often K-
pop singers perform and walk in the shows, bringing the “star power” to the stage. Meanwhile,
the country’s beauty industry has infiltrated Western culture with an emphasis on having clear,
dewy skin. The Korean “10 step skincare routine” changed the American skincare industry
because it educated consumers on how to take care of their skin instead of merely marketing
products to them. Americans wanted to have ageless skin and used Korean products to help
them. Western skincare brands began copying Korean brands to capitalize on the K-beauty trend
and currently, new competitors continue to arise in this ever-growing market.
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In addition to expanding fashion trends and style inspiration, the Internet and introduction
of social media in the 21
st
century resulted in changes within the industries of PR, marketing, and
journalism. Fashion publications like Vogue adapted to the digital changes by joining the dot-
com movement. The brand, along with many other fashion publications, launched a website so
that its readers didn’t have to wait for the printed magazine to see the latest trends in fashion.
Technological innovations changed consumers’ expectations because now they wanted to
consume content immediately with no delays. Using digital platforms strengthened the
relationship a publication had with its consumers because the brand could interact with its
audience and get real-time feedback about the content posted online. Fashion companies
leveraged online channels to highlight their designs through their own websites, live broadcasts
of shows, and by using bloggers and influencers as brand ambassadors to promote their clothes.
No longer were journalists the only people seated front-row at fashion week, but now they were
surrounded by other people who were deemed “important,” ranging from buyers to celebrities to
models to influencers. Chapter 2 of this paper will further explore the impact social media has
had on the fashion world, and Chapter 3 will illustrate how bloggers and influencers have
become prominent icons within the industry.
One of the lasting effects the Internet has had was the emergence of online shopping.
Following the need for instant gratification, many e-commerce websites, including fashion
brands and department stores, were created to ensure consumers had instant access to the
merchandise that was being marketed to them. Even Harper’s Bazaar created ShopBazaar, an
online store that made the pages of the magazine shoppable. Everything that was sold on the
website could be shipped to shoppers without them ever having to leave their homes. Shopping
26
became an even easier activity as online stores provided consumers with a space to purchase a
range of items with ease and flexibility.
The fashion industry has led the charge throughout centuries with technological
innovations, risk-taking, and progressive ideas. At the beginning of the 17
th
century, monarchs
and rulers dictated what was in style due to their level of power and prestige. They controlled the
manufacturing and chose which designs to enforce among their subjects. Over 300 years later,
popular culture has become the dominant force in Western culture with books, music, film,
television shows, art, and everything in between influencing how people style themselves.
Clothing has gone from being laboriously hand-stitched in small stores to being quickly mass-
produced in factories around the world. As the world has evolved, the fashion industry has kept
up with the needs and desires of its shoppers. Regardless of how people view it, fashion has been
at the forefront of completely changing the role consumers play in society today.
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Chapter 2: The Rise of Social Media
The rise of social media was a direct byproduct of a steady stream of advances in
technological innovations beginning around the middle of the 20
th
century. Many of these
breakthroughs surrounded the desire to improve communications between people. The
development of social media sites filled a void, and they have become a powerful and easy way
to connect people. According to the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, a social
networking site (SNS) allows a user to:
“(1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a
list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list
of connections and those made by others within the system.
”
While these sites vary in capabilities, features, and user experiences, their common foundation
requires a person to create a social profile on the site depicting their basic individual
characteristics (name, date of birth, profession, areas of interest, etc.), thereby categorizing them
to be a part of larger groups, conversations, and communities. Each profile includes a list of
friends who are on the same platform and illustrates how each person fits into their community.
The user engagement functionality is at the core of all SNSs and provides a way for users to
deepen their connections with each other by sharing ideas, photos, videos, posts, and other
information.
Years: 1950s – 2000
Since the mid-1950s, scientists have explored different ways to communicate by
leveraging technology. Their ongoing pursuit of innovation and disruption resulted in a
revolutionary achievement in 1969 when data packets were sent through two networked
computers between UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute. The two computers were linked
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together virtually and the message was transmitted over the ARPANET, a precursor to the
Internet. The successful process of connecting different networks became known as internetting
and led to further technological advancements.
By the time the late 1970s occurred, the Bulletin Board System (BBS) was created. When
this individual system initially appeared, it consisted of small servers powered by a computer and
was attached to a telephone modem. Two users could log on at the same time and talk to each
other, play online games, and download files. The issue with BBSs was that not everyone had a
computer in their homes, therefore limiting the accessibility of this platform.
Following the continued exploration of the Internet, the World-Wide Web (Web 1.0) was
created in 1991 to house static websites. These websites provided audiences with information but
did not allow for two-way communication. Landing pages mimicked magazine layouts with
useful information in the form of dense copy and marginal graphic elements. In its early stages,
the web’s purpose was to be a database, not a correspondence or interactive platform.
As time passed, online chat rooms and multi-user forums were created to address the
growing desire for people to interact simultaneously with one another. Released in 1997, AOL’s
instant messaging service (AIM) was the first taste of the “always-connected” lifestyle we
continue to see today. The service amassed two million users before being shut down 20 years
later (Murphy).
Also launching in 1997 was SixDegrees.com with its unique approach of
allowing users to post bulletin board items and send comments back and forth. At its peak, it
garnered around three-and-a-half million users before being shut down in 2001. By the early
2000s, people began to enjoy and even rely on the ease with which they could have access to
non-stop information. The use of personal computers also became more prevalent and routine
within society. This, along with the ongoing development of the Internet and the rise of an
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increasing number of social sites, resulted in the dramatic increase in online accessibility, with
738 million people now using the Internet (Davidson).
Years: 2001 – 2009
SixDegrees and AOL were only the beginning of the shift in global communication
through online technology. The concept of a social network continued to evolve and flourish
with the development of both MySpace and LinkedIn in 2003. MySpace allowed users to
customize their individual “profiles” with music as well as a photo, biography, and preferred
layout. The “profiles” featured an “About Me” section that included a status update, a playlist of
songs, schools attended, employment history, interests, and a list of top friends. At the bottom of
the profiles was a place for comments from friends. Many musicians shared their music on
MySpace because it provided a place for them to interact with their fans. Clothing brands did not
utilize the platform for marketing purposes as it was seen as a site tailored more towards the
music industry. Years later, however, the platform’s user base decreased, and the company has
since laid off almost 50 percent of its workforce (Jackson & Madrigal).
LinkedIn launched as a business and employment-oriented social network that was
uniquely geared towards older, working professionals. These “profiles” connected colleagues
together, featured current and prior work experiences, presented résumés, and included
recommendations given by former and current teammates. Its ease of use lowered the barrier of
entry to the job market by enabling people to easily apply for jobs around the world and
communicate online with other professionals. Currently, LinkedIn has accumulated 450 million
members since its creation over 16 years ago (Yeung). While keenly different in their objectives
and offerings, both MySpace and LinkedIn tried to create a unique space for their users to
connect with each other.
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The net effect of the development of social networking sites on the World Wide Web has
essentially been to expand on the web’s purpose from being just a databank to being a tool for
collaboration. The term “Web 2.0” was first introduced at the O’Reilly Media Web 2.0
Conference in 2004 as a collective term used to describe “aspects of the web such as video
sharing services, blogs and social media platforms that focused on interactive sharing and
participatory collaboration among users rather than simple content delivery” (“What Is Web 2.0?
Definition and Meaning”). It brought about a new outlook for digital users and gave content
providers less control. Webpages went from just existing to being that which users engaged with,
allowing them to post their own opinions online. This two-way interactivity was revolutionary
and resulted in Web 2.0 being named TIME’s Person of the Year in 2006 (Grossman). As SNSs
continued to thrive in connecting people, the world entered a new era of communication.
When Facebook was launched by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, it was in response to a hole
he wanted to fill. When speaking to Freakonomics Radio, Zuckerberg explained, “You could
find music; you could find news; you could find information; but you couldn’t find and connect
with the people that you cared about, which as people is actually the most important thing”
(Clifford). He was searching for a way to solve a problem, not trying to start a company.
Facebook focuses on people and uses their profiles as a way to form connections. Now with over
2.38 billion monthly users, it has grown to be the largest SNS (Hutchinson).
It's interesting to note that two events in 2004 were the motivation for the next big SNS
launch the following year, that being YouTube. The Super Bowl’s half-time show sported the
famous “wardrobe malfunction” of Janet Jackson, and the year ended with the deadliest tsunami
ever recorded in the history of Indonesia. Realizing how challenging it was to find and watch
videos online, Jawed Karim, Chad Hurley, and Steve Chen sought to remedy this in 2005 by
31
creating a video hosting website. Users uploaded videos and shared them with other people,
essentially enabling anyone who had a camera to become a filmmaker and thus spurring the
beginning of global video content. Currently, YouTube has grown to over 2 billion monthly
users with one billion hours of video being watched daily (“YouTube for Press”).
The next SNS to launch was Twitter in 2006. It had yet again a different twist to it, that
being a real-time news microblogging site where users were only allowed to write tweets
containing 140 characters or less. The platform was instrumental in distributing and molding
news on a global scale. The formulation of hashtags came a year later from the then-Google
product designer, Chris Messina, suggesting the “#” symbol would work to group topics
together. After the company originally rejected his idea, it was later added as a feature when
Messina got his friend to tweet about the San Diego fires with “#sandiegofire” and other people
started using the same hashtag. In addition to acting as a breaking news platform, Twitter has
often been used as a customer service platform due to its ability to interact with fans quickly and
easily. A good example of this is Glossier, a skincare and makeup brand that has used Twitter to
cultivate a reciprocal dialogue with its customers. The company responds to every single tweet
received, regardless of its nature, in which its customer service team answers questions,
addresses customer feedback, and gives beauty tips. Figure 12 shows the company responding to
a question about a product shown in an Instagram post. Twitter’s ability to monitor brand
mentions, which are tweets that tag the brand’s Twitter handle, find tweets containing product
keywords, and respond to direct messages has created a strong foundation for customer service.
As of this writing, the platform has 330 million monthly users and 80 percent of them live
outside the United States, providing brands the opportunity to reach audiences worldwide
(Iqbal).
32
Figure 12: Glossier Responding to a Question on Instagram
Source: Sked Social
Following Twitter was the launch of Tumblr in 2007, created so people could post
multimedia content in a microblogging form. Users can post anything from text to pictures to
videos, and though it has never been confirmed, it is speculated that Tumblr has 30-50 million
blogs (Warzel). Many bloggers started on Tumblr and some still use Tumblr as their blogging
platform because of their ability to post a variety of media files.
As new SNSs emerged, existing companies continued to innovate and expand their
product offerings. In 2007, Facebook launched Facebook Pages, which gave brands the
opportunity and the means to actively interact with followers through their pages. It was
launched alongside Facebook Ads, a system that enabled the spread of product messages from
businesses to consumers, an algorithm that was later improved by matching to user interests.
These innovations have provided the framework for social media managers to become a crucial
part of the workforce for many companies, overseeing their digital footprint and running online
advertisements. For example, Louis Vuitton, a French luxury fashion house, now has the most-
followed Facebook page within the industry, having accumulated 23 million followers. The
33
company posts content on its page every month including product highlights, runway show
videos, and information about their non-profit partnerships. Seen in Figure 13, Louis Vuitton
live-streamed their show and posted it to Facebook so fans could comment on the clothes in real-
time. Additionally, the company runs over 800 ads simultaneously across various countries such
as Italy, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia. By expanding their communications
and marketing teams, brands began to include jobs that were solely focused on social marketing
efforts.
Figure 13: Louis Vuitton’s Facebook Live Stream of its Runway Show
Source: Louis Vuitton’s Facebook Page
Years: 2010 – Present Day
The 2010s was the decade in which social networking sites truly exploded due to their
constant use by millennials, along with technology reaching a peak that allowed users to access
these sites on mobile devices. When Instagram launched in 2010 as an online photo and video-
34
sharing app, it was the first SNS to start as an app rather than as a website. With its platform
focused on visuals, most users posted content with very little text compared to other text-heavy
sites. Within the first two years, Burberry, a British luxury fashion brand, had accumulated half a
million Instagram followers and its audience has since grown to over 16 million followers.
Leveraging its following, in 2013 the company used Instagram to invite its followers to the
annual men’s fashion show by posting a formal invitation, evident in Figure 14, on its profile and
then sharing coverage of the event online. Burberry uses similar digital strategies to promote its
women’s fashion shows. Currently, Instagram has 1 billion monthly users, making it one of the
fastest-growing platforms in social media history (Newberry).
Figure 14: Burberry’s Instagram Invitation for its Fashion Show
Source: Business Insider
Social media sites continued to sprout, with each new one having a slightly different twist
than the previous one. Available in 27 languages, Pinterest was founded in 2010 as a photo-
35
sharing website where users could search through content called “pins” by different topics or
categories (Gavini). Like a virtual bulletin board, users saved ideas by “pinning” them to specific
categories for future reference or sharing. Over 100 million users actively use it monthly, often
for fashion, interior design, food, and travel inspiration. Kimberly Lapides, the founder of the
blog Eat Sleep Wear, has over 1 million followers on Pinterest alone. Lapides was a graphic
designer who loved modern, clean designs and decided to bring that to life with her blog where
she shares her passion for art, design, and all things style. In Figure 15, she leveraged Pinterest as
a place to share her fashion outfits and style inspiration. For many consumers, it has become the
go-to destination for new ideas, whether that be finding the perfect New Year’s Eve outfit,
planning a summer soirée, or researching vacation destinations.
Figure 15: Kimberly Lapides’s Fashion Pinterest Page
Source: Kimberly Lapides’s Pinterest Page
With the rapid creation of a variety of social media platforms, a constant topic of
conversation has been how they were being leveraged by consumers and brands. During his TED
Talk in 2010, Chris Anderson, head of TED Conferences, discussed how human brains were
36
uniquely equipped to decode videos after millions of years of evolution. He noted that videos
could launch “the biggest learning cycle in history.” Before this, many videos captured funny
moments such as “Charlie Bit My Finger” or consisted of music videos, but they lacked an
educational component. Following Anderson’s talk, “how-to” tutorial videos began to increase
with women showing how they did their makeup, styled their outfits, or braided their hair.
Chriselle Lim, a lifestyle and beauty blogger, posted her first YouTube video in 2011 sharing
what her summer wardrobe looked like and gave tips on how to mix and match clothing pieces.
An example of one of the outfits she wore in the video can be seen below in Figure 16. YouTube
became a platform that made almost every activity worth posting about because people were
interested in watching other peoples’ routines along with educating themselves on how they
could improve their own routines. Expanding from “how-to” tutorials, many fashion/accessories
brands filmed runway shows or events and posted the videos online to engage fans and make
them feel as if they were attending.
Figure 16: Chriselle Lim’s Summer Essentials YouTube Video
Source: Chriselle Lim’s YouTube Page
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In the continued quest to be a slightly different SNS, Snapchat emerged in 2011 as an
image messaging and multimedia mobile app. This platform was built as an app rather than a
website, just like Instagram, and a few years later Snapchat Stories was launched to create a
narrative surrounding one topic and compiled different people’s snaps together. By 2015, the
lens feature, which put real-time effects on users’ faces using facial recognition software, had
launched. This platform is often used as a way for brands to interact with younger consumers
ranging from 13-34 years of age (Mohsin). Everlane, an American clothing retailer committed to
transparent pricing, leveraged Snapchat for its content strategy. The brand used the channel to
share sneak-peeks of new products, give tours of its factories, and host a weekly series called
“#TransparencyTuesday” where employees answered fan questions. In Figure 17, employees can
be seen answering the question “Do you have a certain idol or is there something that inspires
you?”
Figure 17: Snapchat Q&A with Everlane Employees
Source: Everlane’s Snapchat Channel
It was only a matter of time before the search engine giant, Google, tossed its hat into the
ring with the introduction of its own SNS called Google+. Previewing in the same year as
Snapchat but receiving lackluster results, it was a SNS where people could post photos and
38
statuses while participating in different communities. Brands mainly used it because there were
rumors that it helped improve web page ranks and search engine optimization (SEO) results, but
it was not a platform that consumers flocked to when they wanted to connect with people or
explore different communities, so it was less popular in the fashion realm than other platforms.
Google+ has since been shut down due to low usage.
Facebook’s presence remained strong over the years, and in 2016, the company created
Facebook Live as a video-streaming program that could be accessed through its app. Streaming
gave users the chance to present new content in real-time without it being overly produced.
Brands often leveraged this feature for product reveals, fashion shows, and other time-sensitive
events because of the real-time results it provided. Instagram Stories went live the same year as a
way for users to share different moments throughout their day rather than just the excessively
curated posts published to their feeds. Many commentators criticized Instagram for copying
Snapchat and stealing its concept to create Instagram Stories, though there were some minor
differences between the two platforms. The Instagram Live feature was added later in 2016
allowing users to broadcast videos in real-time. In 2017, Facebook Stories launched due to the
success the company saw with Instagram Stories. Live and Stories pulled back the curtain and
permitted users and brands to post real moments as they were happening, allowing them to
become more connected to their followers.
Social platforms have a long history of development, with the last 10-20 years showing
the most dynamic changes to both their setups and user bases. It is likely that, through continued
growth and transitions, social media will remain a critical part of the marketing funnel to help
brands reach their target markets, engage with audiences, increase brand awareness, and boost
sales. Continued and rapid changes in both technology and social media usage has provided the
39
means by which brands can better understand their customers’ preferences and behaviors, thus
creating a sort of digital DNA for them. SNSs like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter provide
users with the opportunity to share stories, links, media, and opinions across a variety of online
websites and apps. Since anyone with Internet access can create a social profile and reach the
masses through posts, bloggers and influencers have flourished. Instead of traditional media
outlets like Vogue or InStyle leading the conversation about the latest fashion trends, social
media has allowed individuals to start these conversations on their own. With social media users
surpassing the two billion mark, a radical shift has taken place with how brands communicate
with consumers, and it is certainly here to stay.
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Chapter 3: The Impact of Bloggers, Vloggers, and Influencers
Fashion bloggers first surfaced during the mid-2000s due to the emergence of social
media sites. These bloggers were considered the pioneers who democratized the fashion industry
by creating their own websites which they used to share their points of view, along with
documenting fashion through visuals and text. Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff wrote about
succeeding in a world transformed by social technologies in their book Groundswell, stating that
“a blogger’s personality, opinions and taste can draw a reader into their world, creating a
committed and engaged audience who will trust what they say” (19). Vloggers, known for video
blogging, captured similar information but published videos rather than blog posts. The creation
of YouTube provided a platform for vloggers and enabled them to share their content with the
masses. Julia Bradford, the author of Fashion Journalism, stated that “when vloggers sit in their
bedrooms and test make-up or pull their latest fashion purchases out of a shopping bag, it
recreates real-life experiences and turns the blogger into something like a friend” (203). Being
able to speak via videos allows vloggers to showcase their personalities even more so than
conventional bloggers. Within this paper, unless otherwise stated, the term “bloggers” will be
used to also encompass vloggers, since their content overlaps and the main difference is just the
platform housing their content.
While key individuals have learned how to monetize their blogs, vlogs, and social posts
through brand partnerships, advertisements, and online campaigns, blogging started as a creative
outlet rather than as a launchpad for fame and fortune. Describing why she started her Style
Bubble blog in 2006, British blogger Susie Lau explained, “I started because I was at a full-time
job that wasn’t fashion related and wanted to indulge in fashion as a side hobby, something that
was just for me in my personal down time.” Her blog homepage depicts a simple layout with a
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continuous scrolling page containing multiple blog posts. Visible in Figure 18, readers can
search for content related to a certain category, such as beauty, trends, and shoes, or read the
posts in chronological order.
Figure 18: Susie Lau’s Style Bubble Home Page
Source: Style Bubble
William Oliver, the author of Style Feed: The World’s Top Fashion Blogs, described fashion
bloggers as those who “may offer different perspectives on fashion compared to the ones we are
historically used to, but they highlight the excitement felt by real people who actually wear, or
want to wear, the clothes featured” (Bradford, 200). Once bloggers began to command attention,
they inspired their readers by providing advice about what to wear for different occasions. Lau
started her blog for fun while working as a commissioning editor at Dazed Digital but left her job
to pursue blogging full-time in 2010. She has since gained notoriety for her fun looks and quirky
voice and can often be found sitting front row during fashion week in New York, London, and
Paris.
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Designers used to control the press coverage surrounding their collections by lending
samples to celebrities and editors expecting positive reviews. The blogger phenomenon changed
all that because reviews can now be given by anyone. It does not matter if you are Anna Wintour
representing Vogue or if you are a fifteen-year-old who just enjoys dressing up, everyone with a
device has access to the same images from the runway shows. A lot has changed during the last
16 years, and the following provides historical context describing how blogs first appeared and
their impact on the fashion industry.
Years: 2004 – 2009
The history of style blogs can be traced back to 2004 when Patricia Handschiegel
launched Style Diary, which is generally considered to be the first fashion blog. “The magazine
format is passé,” according to Handschiegel, who continued to say, “Editors need to understand
that people take in their information differently now” (Lewis). People weren’t just using the Web
for information but also for amusement. While at the San Francisco Airport for her telecom job,
Handschiegel remembered thinking that “the most interesting style is the style that real people
are wearing because it’s pure, true, authentic creativity.” There weren’t any other blogs on the
Internet, so she used a free hosting platform and started sharing pictures of her outfits. She was
providing entertainment to her community of readers by sharing her clothing purchases and
giving fashion advice. At the time of her blog, social media platforms such as MySpace and
Facebook were just being launched, so Handschiegel’s blog was mainly discoverable through
word-of-mouth and search engines such as Google. Years later, however, she sold Style Diary to
shopping website Style Hive after wanting a break from the industry and selling almost her entire
wardrobe. Handschiegel has since left the fashion world in pursuit of other entrepreneurial
endeavors.
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That same year, Bryan Yambao started his blog BryanBoy at the age of 22 from his
parent’s house in the Philippines. His digital career started when he created an online travel
journal following a month-long stay in Russia, but his flair for fashion quickly became the focal
point of the blog. His shopping adventures and signature pose (hip to the side, arm-out holding a
purse) led to quick popularity. Even Italian luxury brand Fendi featured a photo campaign where
the model was photographed doing a BryanBoy pose, holding the purse out with her arm. The
similarities in the poses are illustrated below in Figure 19.
Figure 19: BryanBoy Pose Used for Fendi Ad
Source: Tulsa 20 Something
As his popularity grew, other brands started to take notice. In 2008, Marc Jacobs, an American
luxury brand, named a bag “BB” after Yambao and invited him to sit front row at their Spring
2009 show. Since then, Yambao has been sitting front row at every Marc Jacobs show in
addition to supporting other high-end designers such as Italian luxury brands Valentino and
Gucci. In Figure 20, he was seen in the front row (second from the left) at a show in Milan
typing on his laptop while Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour was seated two seats away
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(second from the right). Bloggers were beginning to make appearances in the front row at
fashion shows around the world.
Figure 20: BryanBoy Front Row with Anna Wintour
Source: New York Times
Over the next couple of years, additional bloggers like Susie Lau emerged. By 2008,
Teen Vogue added a column called “Blogger of the Moment” where they featured different
bloggers and gave a quick description of their style and blog. Chicago-native Stephanie of The
Fashion Robot was only 16 years old when she was featured in the column (“Blogger of the
Moment: Fashion Robot.”). With some bloggers being under the legal age of 18 years old in the
United States, USA Today published an article that same year titled, “Young Fashion Bloggers
Are Worrisome Trend to Parents.” The story included interviews from Internet safety-advocates
as well as parents of bloggers who weren’t even aware their children had blogs. While these
reservations were flagged by others, style blogs created by teenage girls and young women
continued to thrive.
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Their success was explained by fashion blogger Rumi Neely, who noted “the fact that
bloggers are real girls with normal clothing budgets is probably more inspiring than looking at
pictures of celebrities with seemingly endless resources” (Lewis). Teenage and college-aged
bloggers were more relatable to their peers compared to rich celebrities who were often used in
fashion campaigns. Raised in the Bay Area, Neely developed a thrifting habit while scavenging
the racks in different San Francisco shops. She opened an eBay store while studying at UC San
Diego because she had accumulated quite the collection of pieces. Neely had her then-boyfriend
photograph her in the outfits to show off the clothes and shoppers would comment asking her for
styling tips. As a result, her blog Fashion Toast launched in 2007. Her style was laid back
California girl mixed with simplicity. She almost always wore neutral basic pieces, sported a
signature cat-eye look, and took her photos from a low angle to highlight her model-like height
(seen below in Figure 21).
Figure 21: Rumi Neely’s Simplistic Style
Source: Harper’s Bazaar
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Neely was one of the first bloggers to hire a talent agent. She approached model agent Jennifer
Powell in 2008 after realizing the clothes she was posting on her blog were selling out.
Understanding that there was a way to monetize her blog, Neely wanted Powell to negotiate
deals on her behalf, so Powell began to apply model rates to brand partnership offers Neely
received in an effort to get her paid the same as a model would be paid for campaigns.
Additionally, in 2009, RVCA, a surf and skate label, asked the fashion blogger to design for
them even though she didn’t have a design degree. Neely’s blog was drawing millions of readers,
and she leveraged her blogging experience and popularity to pursue other career opportunities.
As fashion bloggers continued to increase on a global scale, high-end designers and party
planners began to take notice.
Later in 2009, an ultra-exclusive Parisian debutante ball extended its first-ever invitation
to a blogger. Inaugurated in 1958, Le Bal des Débutantes was an annual invitation-only couture
event where young women wore haute couture gowns and expensive jewels from that year’s
jewelry designer. The event raised money for a charity and the criteria for an invitation usually
included famous parents. The very best of teenage society was invited, so extending an invitation
to blogger Jane Aldridge, whose parents were not famous, showed that the event organizers
recognized her popularity and presence within the fashion industry. Donning Chanel haute
couture, Aldridge, a Texas native, made her debutante debut among princesses, celebrity
offspring, and other affluent young women. Aldridge started her blog, Sea of Shoes, at 15 years
old where she documented her love for vintage clothes and described how fashion played a key
role in different classic films (McCall). Since she was in high school, her mom helped style her
outfits and photographed her. Presently, Aldridge continues to post on her blog, often recapping
different fashion weeks in addition to showcasing her outfits.
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Seeing the impact bloggers had, Coach, an American luxury accessories and clothing
company, decided to feature them for one of its campaigns in 2009. It enlisted bloggers Leandra
Medine, Hanneli Mustaparta, Emily Weiss, and Kelly Framel to design, style, and appear in a
campaign to relaunch its Duffle Sac. Each blogger photographed herself holding the bag, which
resulted in a range of modern styling inspiration. “We see bloggers as editors, influencers and
entrepreneurs who reach a very specific and unique audience,” understood David Duplantis,
Coach’s executive vice president of global web and digital media (Strugatz). This was a pivotal
moment for the brand because, before this, elite models or celebrities were hired to promote
Coach products. Being able to see how different bloggers styled their outfits with the bag, as
seen in Figure 22 with Framel’s ensemble, readers better understood how they could incorporate
the duffle bag into their daily life. Coach saw an opportunity to reach diverse communities and
leveraged bloggers to achieve that goal.
Figure 22: Kelly Framel Showcasing the Coach Duffle Sac
Source: Refinery29
As bloggers continued to emerge, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) decided it
needed to consider regulations to monitor this new phenomenon. Bloggers were no longer only
posting content on their blogs but were also posting on Facebook and Twitter, which meant even
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more people could view it. Noticing that consumers were not fully aware of the sponsored
content, the FTC released guidelines in late 2009 that required bloggers to disclose whether they
received free merchandise or monetary compensation from brands. There was no specific rule
about where the disclosure needed to go, but it was a best practice to disclose it at the beginning
of a blog post, video, or social media post. Putting rules in place proved how far the industry had
come over the past five years as blogging was no longer only a hobby but had become a lucrative
business. As seen below in Figure 23, the Instagram post by Susie Lau used “#sponsored” to
disclose a partnership with Coach. Sometimes, “#ad” was used as an alternative disclosure. It
told the reader, while the blogger’s opinions might be her or his own, that person was working
with and/or being paid by the brand they were promoting. It took a bit of time for these
regulations to go into effect, so by the time bloggers were incorporating them into their posts,
Instagram had already launched.
Figure 23: Susie Lau Discloses Coach Partnership
Source: Susie Lau’s Instagram Page
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The FTC did not consider reviews that were printed in publications to be sponsored advertising
messages, even though journalists often receive free products just like bloggers did. Thus,
reporters and journalists were not subject to these regulations. “Bloggers have pointed out that
magazines don’t have to disclose freebies, or how closely they worked with advertisers, and
accused them of hypocrisy,” described Julie Bradford, author of Fashion Journalism (211).
Because these policies were not being enforced for traditional media outlets and seemed to be
targeting only one group, many in the blogging community became frustrated.
While bloggers were being recognized within the fashion industry, not everyone was
thrilled about their presence. New York Times reporter Eric Wilson wrote an article at the end of
2009 about bloggers being seated in the front row of fashion shows and the tension it was
causing among fashion editors. Tavi Gevinson, the creator of Style Rookie, was only 13 years old
when she sat, with a hot pink headband on, in the front row at the Rodarte Fall show (shown in
Figure 24). Gevinson created her blog at 11, one of the youngest to do so, in the suburbs of
Chicago. She commented on the latest fashion trends and displayed her colorful, playful style,
usually clothed in bright colors, textured patterns, and wide-legged trousers. Her style was
distinctive, and her blog received more than 54,000 readers daily (Schwartzberg). She was
invited to fashion events around the world and commissioned to write articles for Harper’s
Bazaar. Her arrival at fashion shows signaled the beginning of a new era that irritated editors
who had spent years vying for a front-row seat. Anne Slowey, who climbed the ladder to attain
her senior position at Elle, dismissed Gevinson’s Harper’s Bazaar column calling it “a bit
gimmicky.”
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Figure 24: Tavi Gevinson Seated Front Row at the Rodarte Fall Show
Source: CBS News
While this was just one example of the tension building between magazine editors and fashion
bloggers, others continued to arise. Kelly Cutrone, who had produced countless fashion shows,
noticed the change that was occurring. She asked herself, “Do I think, as a publicist, that I now
have to have my eye on some kid who’s writing a blog in Oklahoma as much as I do on an editor
from Vogue? Absolutely. Because once they write something on the Internet, it’s never coming
down. And it’s the first thing a designer is going to see” (“4 Essential Steps to Producing a Top
Notch Fashion Show”). At a time when magazine publications were downsizing their workforce
due to a decline in advertising sales and circulation, blogs were making notable advances in
audience size and popularity.
The blogging scene continued to grow as social media sites became more prevalent
among Internet users. Within these first five years, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter had
launched. Each platform provided bloggers with the opportunity to meet and engage with a new
community, but they needed to vary their content for each audience to not seem redundant. Due
to the vast number of platforms, they had the huge undertaking of posting consistently every day
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to ensure their content was being seen by their followers across all these different marketing
channels.
Since not all of the content was suitable for every platform, different types of posts were
shared to ensure that they were optimized for that specific audience. Aimee Song, the creator of
Song of Style, posted her outfit photos on Facebook as a way to drive traffic to her blog. Figure
25 shows that the only caption was a link to her new blog post that featured the photo she was
sharing. Though there was no additional context given, her posts were getting around 200
engagements (likes and comments combined) each time.
Figure 25: Aimee Song’s Facebook Post
Source: Aimee Song’s Facebook Page
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Within a couple of years, she had expanded her Facebook posts to include a breakdown of all the
clothing pieces she was wearing, along with providing shopping links in case her readers wanted
to purchase the same item. Song had started blogging in 2008 when she was living in San
Francisco and studying Interior Architecture. Originally, the blog was used as a portfolio to
showcase her interior design aesthetic and shoots, but it later became a fashion blog when people
became interested in the outfits she was wearing. The blog documented her personal style along
with her travels and interior design work. By 2016, her blog was receiving over 2 million views
every month, making it one of the most popular blogs (BoF Editors).
Following the success of Facebook and the launch of YouTube, a few bloggers decided
to also create videos as a way to diversify their content and grow their brand. Zoe Sugg, known
more widely by her online name Zoella, became one of the first people to publish content on
both her blog and on YouTube. Born in the UK, Sugg started as a blogger in 2009 while working
as an interior design apprentice. After watching YouTube frequently, usually searching for
beauty tutorials, make-up collections, and other clothing clips, she attempted to make her first
YouTube video within the same year of starting her blog. Her fans (at the time a total of 1,000
blog readers) migrated to the video platform with her (Sheffield). Sugg explained the attraction
of being on YouTube, “People say they like my fashion-haul videos because it's like you've been
shopping with your friends and you look back over what you have bought. But this isn't just one
friend - it's millions. Because of social media I can make a video, they can comment to each
other, it's more of a direct relationship.” “Haul videos” were posted online and included a person
discussing items they recently purchased, usually describing the quality and cost of each piece.
Sugg’s first haul video, shown in Figure 26, received more than 600,000 views. She has since
expanded her content to include makeup tutorials, styling tips, and interior design
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recommendations. CoverGirl and Garnier ran banner advertisements on her channels as brands
began to incorporate digital ads into their print and television marketing strategies. Currently, her
YouTube channel has grown to over 11.5 million subscribers.
Figure 26: Zoe Sugg’s First Haul Video
Source: Zoe Sugg’s YouTube Channel
It took a couple of years after their launches for bloggers to use Facebook and YouTube,
and the same pattern occurred with Twitter. In 2009, Aimee Song mainly utilized the platform to
post a link to her blog post or share her daily thoughts such as, “I tripped twice today on my way
to work. I’m so clumsy. I hate it.” She didn’t incorporate hashtags or images to make the content
more entertaining. During the same year, magazines and fashion editors would often utilize
hashtags, such as “#NYFW” for New York Fashion Week, in their posts to contribute to the live-
tweeting aspect of the platform. Niche Media fashion editor, Laurie Brookins, used “#nyfw” in
her tweet comparing Louboutin shoes from the Phillip Lim show as seen below in Figure 27.
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Figure 27: Fashion Editor Laurie Brookins’s #NYFW Tweet
Source: Laurie Brookin’s Twitter Page
Following specific hashtags related to fashion week, readers received all the latest coverage from
their computers. At the time, bloggers mostly relied on the platform for self-promotion with little
to no hashtag usage. This changed a couple of years later as more bloggers attended fashion
week and wanted their fans to see the live showing of the models in the outfits as they strolled
down the catwalk.
Social media had a powerful effect on the fashion industry, transforming it from
something that was controlled by a handful of designers and fashion editors to an industry that
was being shaped by bloggers as they decided if something was in style or if it was out.
Traditional opinion setters weren’t as influential anymore, and thus consumers were given more
power to decide how they wanted to interact with brands.
Years: 2010 – 2015
The launch of Instagram in 2010 created another change as some content creators used
the visual social site to show what they were wearing and promote their lifestyle pictorially
rather than through their long-form blog posts. Peter Henderson, the founder of the blog
Hapsical, explained, “Fashion people were the first to adopt Instagram, holding up their iPads at
the shows to take pictures” (Bradford, 213). Everyone who was a prominent figure in the fashion
industry posted photos and videos of the shows they attended. Also, many of these people posted
something like “Outfit of the Day” or “#ootd” pictures to show their followers what they were
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wearing for different shows, events, or each day. During this time, it was vital for any successful
brand or person to be utilizing Instagram because of its visual focus. As seen in Figure 28, Paola
Alberdi, the founder of Blank Itinerary, regularly posted “Outfit of the Day” images on
Instagram as a way to showcase her everyday style. The platform allowed individuals to not only
post more frequently, since less text was involved for captions versus blog posts, but also reach a
broader audience more quickly.
Figure 28: Paola Alberdi’s #OOTD Instagram Post
Source: Paola Alberdi’s Instagram Page
Jane Aldridge further described the shift, “You get on Instagram and there's so many
bloggers who don't truly blog about fashion, in a way. It's more like, this is what I'm wearing,
this is my lifestyle…It's interesting to see that shift. A lot of those bloggers have been successful,
and good for them, but I do kind of miss that old-school way; it was a bit more like reporting”
(McCall). While some bloggers continued to run their blogs because they enjoyed sharing the
story behind the photos and wanted to develop their own plotline, this change of posting lifestyle
and fashion images on Instagram led to the development of a new category of content creators
called “influencers.” According to Harper’s Bazaar, fashion influencers “don’t typically have a
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blog or their own platform outside of social media,” but rather have a large online following and
the power to guide the purchasing decisions of their followers (Alexander). Influencers usually
consist of celebrities, models, and socialites and are always on the VIP list, invited to the coolest
parties and glitzy events, and often sit front row at fashion week alongside bloggers and
journalists.
A perfect example of an influencer is Karlie Kloss, a model who has graced the pages of
Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Elle while also strutting down the runway for a variety of global
high-end fashion designers. She has amassed over 8.5 million followers on Instagram, using her
platform to promote designers she likes, brands she’s working with, and photos of her daily
looks. Figure 29 illustrates how Kloss tags the clothing brands she’s wearing, which in turn
influences fans to go to the brand’s page and explore their clothing selection.
Figure 29: Karlie Kloss Tagging Fashion Brands on Instagram
Source: Karlie Kloss’s Instagram Page
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Due to her popularity on social, Kloss expanded her brand and started a YouTube channel
posting vlogs regularly. In 2018, she was also signed as the much-anticipated replacement for
Heidi Klum on Bravo TV’s “Project Runway.” The overlap between influencers and bloggers
continues today since a handful of top-tier bloggers have gained large enough followings to be
considered influencers, and key influencers have branched out and created blogs and vlogs after
amassing a large following online. As time passed, fashion influencers became the new “it”
celebrities as more brands wanted to use them in their campaigns.
Since Neely signed her agent in 2008, the influencer world had continued to grow with
partnerships increasing between bloggers, influencers, and brands. As this growth continued,
there became more of a need for additional talent agents to help negotiate brand deals. Founded
in 2010, Digital Brand Architects (DBA) was the first digital influencer management company
that helped bloggers partner with brands and aided them with advertiser negotiations. The agency
was founded by three women who worked in the fashion industry spanning PR, marketing, and
journalism. Together, they formed a company where the sole focus was social marketing through
digital creators and influencers. Entering a new decade marked a year where steps were taken to
elevate blogs and turn them into businesses, transforming some bloggers into full-fledged
celebrities.
Besides securing talent agents, another way bloggers flourished was through monetizing
their content. Personal shopper and blogger Amber Venz realized how influential her posts were
when she saw her readers using her recommendations to shop online rather than booking her in-
person services. She brainstormed a way to make money from these transactions, and the result
was RewardStyle, a business launched in 2011. The company monetized blogs through affiliate
links, which meant a blogger made a commission off any purchases their readers made using
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their unique links. These links have since expanded past blogs and are now also used for
YouTube content, as well. RewardStyle takes a cut of each sale and has since driven more than
$1 billion in annual retail sales (Gross).
The relationship between bloggers and fashion brands continued to develop as talent fees
increased. Women’s Wear Daily published a story in 2012 that reported how much bloggers were
making from their brand deals. They were being paid anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 for
brand partnerships, event appearances, and sponsored posts (Strugatz). Backlash quickly arose
from designers, brands, and journalists who questioned if bloggers merited these rates since they
seemed astronomically high. Karen Robinovitz, the co-founder and chief creative officer of
DBA, elaborated that when bloggers were expected to share content on behalf of a brand, that
meant they oversaw scouting a location for the shoot, styling their own wardrobe, doing hair and
makeup, managing art direction, overseeing photography, copywriting, and posting the content.
“That takes a magazine sometimes 20 people to pull off,” explained Robinovitz (Strugatz).
While blogger partnerships may be viewed as expensive by some, leveraging them permitted
brands to reach audiences that they otherwise would not have been able to with just a magazine
spread.
As their blogs and own names became more profitable, bloggers continued to transform
what once was a side hustle and turn it into a full-fledged business. In 2013, Leandra Medine
gave her blog, Man Repeller, a makeover by removing the do it yourself (DIY) section and
transforming it into a fashion-news website. She hired a full-time staff and now has a team of
over 15 employees helping her operate it (Cohen). Medine described her blog as “trends that
women love and men hate.” Born and raised in New York, Medine began Man Repeller in 2010
as a hobby while getting her degree in journalism. Her blog became popular due to her
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authenticity and the sassy tone she incorporated into her writing. Raina Penchanksy, the co-
founder and Chief Strategy Officer of DBA, shared that “there are only so many ways to shoot a
certain photo, but if you have a personality and you showcase that personality, that’s the point of
differentiation” (Blalock). Figure 30 shares a taste of Medine’s humor with her headline “Rice
Pudding and Non-Stop Peeing: Leandra’s Pregnant Fashion Week Diary.” Staying true to herself
and being genuine paved the way for Medine to achieve success and expand her brand.
Figures 30: Leandra Medine’s Humorous Blog Headlines
Source: Man Repeller Website
Around the same time, Chiara Ferragni, an Italian style queen with her own blog, The
Blonde Salad, launched her footwear line Chiara Ferragni Collection. The line has since
expanded to include backpacks, sweatshirts, T-shirts, and jackets along with having flagship
stores in Milan, Shanghai, and Paris. The latest data shows that in 2014, Ferragni was set to
make at least $8 million, with 30 percent coming from her blog through brand collaborations and
advertisements and the other 70 percent coming from her Chiara Ferragni Collection (Darwin).
Ferragni has refrained from releasing how much she makes since then. She started her blog in
2009 while studying law at Bocconi University in Milan and quickly became known for her edgy
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style, often wearing wild patterns and textured dresses. After Teen Vogue featured her as its
“Blogger of the Moment,” Ferragni left college to pursue blogging full-time. This led to a
plethora of opportunities including partnerships with Louis Vuitton, which helped her expand her
blog to become an independent digital magazine with additional staff members writing editorials,
having her own line, and being featured a prestigious case study for Harvard Business School.
The university used Ferragni as a test subject to better understand how she took her blogging
hobby and transformed it into a multi-million-dollar company. Seen below in Figure 31, Ferragni
used the hashtag “#TheBlondeSaladGoesToHarvard” as a way to announce the news on social
media.
Figure 31: Chiara Ferragni’s #TheBlondeSaladGoesToHarvard Announcement
Source: Chiara Ferragni’s Instagram Page
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Most of her social posts included “#TheBlondeSalad” hashtag along with whichever activity or
event was occurring. For example, “#TheBlondeSaladGoesToLondon” was used for her London
trips, and “#TheBlondeSaladNeverStops” was used for a range of things from fashion shows,
entertainment parties, and pictures with fans. She used these blog-specific hashtags as a way to
label her content and brand herself on social media. Ferragni has remained one of the most-
popular bloggers-turned-influencers, though in recent years she has reduced her blogging time in
favor of using Instagram as her main online platform since it is her largest audience (18.2 million
followers).
As bloggers continued to increase in popularity, scrutiny surrounding them increased in
tandem. In 2014, Texas Monthly released a profile of Jane Aldridge where she dismissed the idea
of college, expressed disgust over a reporter touching her high-end designer shoes, and was
painted as a spoiled rich girl living a privileged life. The media was quick to pounce with New
York Magazine’s The Cut and Fashionista covering the story and the multiple rebuttals Aldridge
posted in response. She claimed that some of the quotes in the article were made up or taken out
of context. All the backlash brought up the concept of “rich girl” fashionistas who used their
blogs to primarily show off their wealth and did everything for money, such as Emily Schuman
of Cupcakes and Cashmere. Schuman was condemned in the past for certain partnerships that
didn’t align with the lifestyle she led and was criticized for only caring about the money. For
instance, after previously stating multiple times that she hadn’t worked out in years because she
had a fast metabolism, she promoted a fitness company and an outdoor hiking apparel company.
These brand partnerships came across as inauthentic and broke the trust she had with her fans
since they knew she didn’t use these brands in her daily life. Her fans expressed their frustration
in the comments section of her Instagram post as seen below in Figure 32.
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Figures 32: Fans Upset Over Emily Schuman’s Inauthentic Content
Source: Emily Schuman’s Instagram Page
Criticism continued as readers and fellow bloggers began accusing well-known bloggers,
such as Aimee Song, of buying followers on social media and altering their images by using
Photoshop, an image editing software. These bloggers had large increases in their follower
numbers across social media accounts, but the comment and engagement statistics didn’t match
or scale with their new audience size. There were companies like Buy Instagram Followers that
sold packages ranging from $90 for 1,000 followers to $1,350 for 15,000 followers (Lieber). One
blogger gained thousands of new Instagram followers in only a couple of hours, and participants
of the blogger-obsessed community Get Off My Internet (GOMI) were quick to attack. GOMI
was an online community created for people to share their opinions about bloggers. Many
threads were negative with people calling out bloggers for being inauthentic, questioning their
practices when it came to follower counts, and overall just attacking their brand. The founder of
the site, Alice Wright, observed that “money has changed everything. Once blogging became an
industry, the blog world filled up with a lot of people striving to be the Next Big Blogger. It's no
longer about having an online diary; it's about getting a piece of the pie or maintaining your
slice” (Lieber). In 2014, GOMI received 21 million monthly page views from 500,000 thousand
unique monthly visitors. While most of the conversation and threads were centered around a
blogger’s fashion choices and content, some discussed the ethics of blogging and whether certain
photos had been altered. There was an entire thread dedicated to Jane Aldridge, where readers
frequently discussed how she used Photoshop to alter her weight in images. One blogger, Dana
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Suchow of Do the Hot Pants, admitted to retouching her images in an effort to “lift the veil that
is currently suffocating us women.” Suchow was insecure about her stomach and used Photoshop
to flatten it and smooth her skin. The final image on the left in Figure 33 shows the picture she
posted after doctoring it while the image on the right was the original photo. While manipulating
images and paying for followers was seen as unethical, there were no laws that strictly prohibited
these practices, making the lines blurred. It was up to the brands to research a blogger they
wanted to use in campaigns to make sure her or his practices aligned with their own.
Figure 33: Edited and Original Image of Dana Suchow
Source: Dana Suchow’s Do You Hot Pants Blog
As the world of fashion bloggers continued to expand, Lucky decided to stand by them
and featured three on its February 2015 cover. Chiara Ferragni of The Blonde Salad, Zanita
Whittington of Zanita, and Nicole Warne of Gary Pepper Girl were the first bloggers to appear
on the cover of a magazine as seen in Figure 34. Whittington and Warne, both Australian, had
each become successful in their own way. Whittington started as a model and her preexisting
exposure to the fashion industry assisted in her rapid popularity once she started blogging.
Warne was interning at Grazia and Harper’s Bazaar when she left to continue selling vintage
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clothing through her eBay store, Gary Pepper Vintage. As her store continued to grow, she
renamed the site to Gary Pepper Girl and focused more on blogging as she scaled back the e-
commerce side. Having them on the cover alongside Ferragni exhibited the power fashion
bloggers had, and the article discussed how they democratized the fashion industry by making
trends more accessible and relatable. Over the past couple of years, bloggers had been featured in
the pages of magazines and on their websites, and putting three on the cover confirmed the shift
that was occurring in the industry and showed its permanence. Additional perspectives were
being heard to complement the views of fashion journalists and designers.
Figure 34: Lucky’s Fashion Bloggers February 2015 Cover
Source: Lucky Magazine
Years: 2016 – Present Day
Over the last five years, the top bloggers continued to monetize their work and expand
their businesses. Aimee Song signed one of the largest beauty deals in blogger history when she
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became Laura Mercier Cosmetics’ newest brand ambassador in 2016. As their first-ever digital
influencer, a source close to the brand shared that the year-long deal was worth more than
$500,000 (Strugatz). Song had amassed over 5 million followers across different social
platforms, and her popularity shifted her into the “influencer” category as opposed to only being
known as a blogger. The yearlong partnership had her creating content for the brand’s website,
her blog, and her social media profiles. “Companies are approaching bloggers that have their
own personal brand, valued opinion and a set audience that aligns with their own,” elaborated
Aaron Christian, editor-in-chief of men’s style blog Individualism. He went on to say, “What is
especially appealing to a brand is that bloggers can create content – a key part of getting talked
about online – and have their own communication channels to publish and share” (Bradford,
205). Bloggers and influencers could generate content quickly and in a streamlined process since
they handled the art direction, styling, photography, copywriting, and posting compared to ad
agencies that needed an entire team of people to execute the same concept. With ad campaigns,
there needed to be additional client buy-in and approval for all the steps in the process; however
with influencer partnerships, clients approved the influencer and had less of a regulated
approvals process since the influencer would be granted access to go and create content on their
own once the campaign idea was approved. In comparison to bloggers who had already
established trust with their engaged followers, advertisers appealed to a more general audience
which cost clients more money. Brands could come across more organically and less like a hard
sell when partnering with bloggers and influencers. Throughout her Laura Mercier Cosmetics
partnership, Song showed her daily skincare and makeup routine, which highlighted different
products. Figure 35 is an aerial shot posted to Song’s Instagram page showing Laura Mercier
products, along with a caption that shares her love for the new eye palette.
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Figure 35: Aimee Song’s Laura Mercier Cosmetics Post
Source: Aimee Song’s Instagram Page
Realizing the power an influencer had, Tommy Hilfiger, an American designer,
collaborated with novice model Gigi Hadid for his Fall 2016 NYFW collection. Hadid already
had over 28 million followers on Instagram, and partnering with a person who had a strong
social media presence paid off for the brand. The show was a shoppable livestream on the
brand’s website with all the pieces from the collection available for consumers to buy
immediately once the show ended. Hadid constantly posted updates about the clothes on
Instagram and engaged with people who bought the pieces by liking their posts and sharing
them, which likely contributed to the boost in the line’s performance. Following the debut of
their collection, there was a 900 percent increase in website traffic, and the brand saw double-
digit growth in sales (). The duo continued their partnership in 2017, elevating their see-now-
buy-now strategy by having fans vote on which looks would walk down the runway. The
initiative, referenced in Figure 36, was called “❤ To Be Part" and included 14 options for people
to vote on, all housed on the Tommy Hilfiger social channels. Fans were asked to vote by
commenting on the posts with their favorite look.
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Figure 36: Instagram Poll for Tommy and Gigi’s 2017 Collection
Source: Tommy Hilfiger’s Instagram Page
Another brand that leveraged content creators to sell its clothes was Revolve Clothing. The
online commerce company, established in 2003, had been at the forefront of creating an
impressive roster of most-followed bloggers and prominent fashion models and sent them on
trips around the world (think Austin, Texas for South by Southwest, the Hamptons in New York
for summer rendezvouses, Dubrovnik, Croatia just because, and other alluring places). For
decades, high-end brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Givenchy flew magazine editors to
their shows around the world, so Revolve took this model and turned it into a marketing
opportunity. The bloggers and models attended dinners, lounged outside (often next to a pool or
an ocean), and participated in activities ranging from learning how to salsa dance to a tequila
tasting. At the same time, they were also documenting their entire experience on their social
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channels, linking to the clothes they wore which could be purchased on the company’s website.
In addition to reaching the influencer’s or model’s online audiences, Revolve created content
from the trips for their own website and social channels (seen below in Figure 37) thus engaging
with their audiences as well.
Figure 37: Revolve Instagram Post Highlighting an Influencer Trip
Source: Revolve’s Instagram Page
The brand used these trips to put their clothes “in the context of how our customer would aspire
to wear them,” explained Raissa Gerona, the chief brand officer of Revolve (Strugatz). In 2017,
Women’s Wear Daily reported that over “70 percent of overall sales at Revolve were driven by
an influencer.” The company has stayed tight-lipped since then about the impact that influencers
have had on their sales. In 2019, Revolve raised $212 million in its initial public offering and is
valued at $1.2 billion with no signs of slowing down (Biron). Other brands have taken note over
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the years following Revolve’s continued success: Jimmy Choo flew Aimee Song to Switzerland
to promote their latest boots, and shoe brand Soludos brought Julie Sarinana of Sincerely Jules to
the Amalfi Coast for their campaign. Brands were getting more bang for their buck as Song
elaborated that “if you take three to four influential bloggers somewhere, you're going to see a lot
more impressions than one magazine story [or ad campaign]” (Indvik).
While a handful of bloggers and models had become quite popular, their large following
didn’t occur overnight. It took vlogger Jenn Im eight years to get 2.2 million YouTube
subscribers and 1.6 million Instagram followers. The channel, focused on affordable fashion, was
started by Im and another friend while they were in high school, and Im continued to post videos
solo when she moved away to college. Following the success of her YouTube channel, she
launched her clothing line EGGIE (seen in Figure 38). She viewed the line as an extension of her
brand and as a project that could continue in the future. “It's important to think of the long run
because I don't know if I would be able to do YouTube for the rest of my life…I love having this
option where this could be my exit strategy, where I can still be working and investing in a
project that I'm passionate about,” she revealed (Zipkin). Within the last couple of years, a
handful of other bloggers, including plus-size bloggers Nicolette Mason and Gabi Gregg, Arielle
Charnas of Something Navy, and Julia Engle of Gal Meets Glam, used the success of their blogs
and large social following to launch their clothing lines, transforming them from not only content
creators but also to designers.
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Figure 38: Jenn Im Launching Her EGGIE Clothing Line on YouTube
Source: Jenn Im’s YouTube Channel
Social media continued to play a key role in elevating the careers of bloggers and
influencers. Due to its visual appeal, Instagram was one of the main platforms used for content
distribution. While it was a great tool for sharing pictures, it became criticized for becoming “too
curated.” Some platform users believed that people were filtering their photos too much by using
Photoshop and that the platform had become less authentic since people’s feeds had become
highlight reels that only showcased their most-polished moments. As a way to show a more
“real” side of themselves, social media users began using Snapchat and Instagram Stories.
Currently, 190 million people use Snapchat each day (Mohsin) and over 500 million people use
Instagram Stories daily (Newberry). While Instagram Stories have surpassed Snapchat’s
popularity, Snapchat’s younger demographic, 18-24 years-olds who make up 78 percent of the
platform’s users, enables brands to focus on a more niche audience (Mohsin). Both sites provide
great avenues for content distribution by bloggers and influencers, using them to highlight their
personalities more in-depth and share behind-the-scenes content of runway shows, campaign
photo-shoots, fashion events, daily routines, and even spur of the moment Q&As. For example,
Aimee Song posted a video on her Instagram Story having her fans vote on which purse she
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should wear for a party while at Paris Fashion Week. Figure 39 shows that more people wanted
her to use the leather purse rather than the tweed purse. This type of content allowed Song’s fans
to engage with her as she brought them along while getting ready. Similar content was posted on
Snapchat as a way for followers to feel like they were attending the events too, though the
platform lacks some of the two-way engagement features that Instagram has, such as posting
polls.
Figure 39: Aimee Song’s Instagram Stories Poll During Paris Fashion Week
Source: Aimee Song’s Instagram Page
Video content engaged audiences more because there was a combination of visuals and
sound, which was often more appealing than static photos. Due to this, live streaming was
incorporated at different fashion weeks as a way to bring followers and fans to the front row.
Facebook Live and Instagram Live were used by designers to give people immediate access to
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the collections, enabling them to form opinions on the clothes instantly as compared to having to
look for coverage online once the show ended or in a fashion magazine weeks later. Katie Durko,
a USC alum and the founder of the social media agency The Social Kat, used Facebook Live for
her client Paper Crown, a clothing line created by reality TV celebrity Lauren Conrad. Paper
Crown partnered with Brides.com to stream the show. Durko divulged, “It went extremely well.
Fans loved the opportunity to tune in and speak with Conrad in real-time (via the comments
section of the page). After the live feed ended, we noticed a huge increase in traffic to both our
Facebook page and website.”
Live streaming runway shows and other events kept followers
engaged while simultaneously connecting them with each other. Since social media was
constantly changing, the fashion industry had to continuously transform itself to keep up with the
latest platforms and trends.
One effect of this constant change was that less of an emphasis was made on having a
large number of online followers. While brands used to solely focus on follower count to
evaluate bloggers, nowadays the number of followers holds less weight since the engagement
rate metric has become more significant. James Nord, the co-founder of blogger directory Fohr
Card, shared, “Brands now look for a mixture of total reach, strong engagement and good
growth, but more than that, you have to look at those growth and engagement numbers in
relation to influencers of similar size. Engagement rates vary greatly as follower count changes
and there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to ‘good numbers’” (Strugatz).
Durko agreed that
engagement rates were important. She verified, “The higher your engagement, the more
interested and excited your followers are with your brand, which is important if you are hoping
to convert those followers into sales.”
Customers are important, but engaged communities are
even more influential. Consumers were able to decide which blog to follow or which video
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channel to watch rather than being shown generic print ads. This active participation in searching
for content has enabled bloggers and influencers to create strong relationships with their fans
based on the foundation of trust, which has opened doors for companies to widen their reach and
increase their consumer base. For brands, using social media is often now a cheaper and more
authentic marketing option than using advertisements in editorial publications or billboards in
high traffic areas such as Time Square or the Sunset Strips.
The army of bloggers, vloggers, and influencers has become abundant since Style Diary
first emerged in 2004. By 2022, brands are expected to spend up to $15 billion for influencer
marketing (Schomer). Leveraging these individuals for campaigns is already a tactic many
brands currently use, but they must repeatedly modify their strategies to match the needs of the
market. As social media becomes further ingrained in people's lives, influencers will become
increasingly vital agents that deliver immediate results, connecting consumers to companies on
social media in highly impactful and authentic ways.
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Chapter 4: The Digital Impact During Fashion Month
Following the history of the fashion industry, the emergence of social media sites, and the
rise of bloggers, vloggers, and influencers, first-person research was conducted during the 2016
and 2018 fall fashion weeks to illustrate how the digital communications landscape has changed
over time. This research demonstrates how crucial social media sites are for fashion-based
conversations and, that to effectively communicate with their customer base, brands must utilize
these online mediums. In the past, PR was used to help maintain a positive company reputation
and to communicate company messaging to the public. Now, social media is also a marketing
component used to build and maintain trust between a company and consumers. Since both PR
and social media are utilized for similar purposes, it makes sense that they are used in tandem.
Therefore, PR practitioners must understand how to create digital strategies for fashion labels
along with leveraging traditional PR tactics.
Using Crimson Hexagon, a social media analytics program, social coverage of New York
Fashion Week (NYFW), London Fashion Week (LWF), Milan Fashion Week (MFW), and Paris
Fashion Week (PFW) was examined to compare the changes between 2016 and 2018. Crimson
Hexagon has “the largest library of social media data available for analysis and allows users to
analyze text and images across a variety of categories including sentiment, customer satisfaction,
product reviews, surface purchase intent and more.” Essentially, the tool is a machine-learning
platform that analyzes and catalogs real-time conversations. Users can look beyond what is being
said and understand who is saying it and why. Social media accounts can be tracked for
performance and benchmarked against competitors. The program provides metrics about the
content posted (likes, follows, and engagement rates) and information on target audiences (when
followers are most active, which content they respond to best, and what content they don’t like).
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This tool takes a deep dive into understanding social media followers and how they react to
different content.
Due to some licensing and privacy issues, the author was unable to obtain Facebook
comparisons for the 2019 events. Therefore, only Twitter and Instagram content was examined
with the following hashtags being used to gather the data for both years:
#fashionweek #fw #fashionblogger #nyfw
#newyorkfashionweek #lfw #londonfashionweek #mfw
#milanfashionweek #milanofashionweek #pfw #parisfashionweek
For the 2016 and 2018 comparison, the data shown is from a fashion month perspective
analyzing the whole month of September for each year rather than looking at each specific
fashion week on a microscopic level. The dates used for pulling the data were September 7 –
October 5, 2016 and September 6 – October 3, 2018, inclusive of all four fashion weeks.
As different social media platforms arose and developed over the years, social media
usage dramatically increased as well, which is evident in Figure 40. At the beginning of the
month in 2016, over 11 million social posts containing at least one of the above hashtags were
being published. By 2018, that number had tripled resulting in over 33 million total social posts.
This trend of more content being published online was consistent with the increase in global
usage. In 2016, 2.28 billion people were using at least one social media platform, and within two
years that number increased by over 20 percent (Clement). Currently, approximately 45 percent
of the world’s population uses social sites making it one of the most popular activities. There’s a
platform or an app that fits almost everyone’s needs. Additionally, with many parts of the world
currently quarantining at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, social media has become a
lifeline for staying connected to friends, family, brands, and consumers. It will become even
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more prevalent during the September 2020 fashion shows because large audiences won’t be able
to attend the events due to quarantine regulations, thus, posting photos and videos on Instagram
will be how new designs are shared with the public. Already, French couture house YSL has
pulled out of fashion week due to COVID-19 concerns. Head designer Anthony Vaccarello
implied that the strict schedule was more of a burden than an organized output for creativity,
sharing on social media that YSL would take back “control of its pace and reshape its schedule”
and “launch its collections…driven by creativity.” Other designers may follow suit, choosing to
debut their new collections on their own timetables instead of being a part of the annual event.
This gives brands more control but also emphasizes the need for digital marketing campaigns on
Instagram, YouTube, and other social platforms, along with influencer partnerships, to distribute
the collection to editors and consumers.
Figure 40: Volume of Social Content from 2016 to 2018
The most popular social media platform for fashion was overwhelmingly Instagram at 98
percent. As illustrated in Figure 41, during the two years, Instagram content increased by 12
percent while all other platforms either decreased or remained stagnant. Compared to text,
imagery is a stronger medium for depicting clothing with colorful garments being photographed
and shared online. People can instantly form an opinion about a look based on one image instead
of having to read a paragraph describing the apparel. Instagram is entirely a visual platform
where the news feed is jam-packed with photos and videos. The app has progressed from mostly
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being used for sharing personal photos to now appealing to all kinds of influencers, advertisers,
and brands. The fashion industry lives on Instagram, so designers need to use the platform
including in-feed posts, Instagram Stories, and the Live feature to promote their products, expand
their visibility, and increase their reach.
Figure 41: Most Popular Content Source
In addition to keeping up to date on the latest social trends, brands quickly recognized the
power that influencers had, a theme that remained consistent while studying the types of content
shared on social media during both years. As previously mentioned in Chapter 3, Tommy
Hilfiger collaborated with model Gigi Hadid for his 2016 NYFW show. According to Figure 42,
their hashtag “#TOMMYXGIGI” was used over 30,000 times and was one of the most-used
show-specific hashtags. A majority of the hashtags either pertained to a specific fashion week,
like “#NYFW,” or were broad topics, such as “#fashionblogger.” Broad hashtags like these
reached larger audiences because people would look up general topics such as “fashion” for
clothing inspiration. Leveraging a branded hashtag cut through the clutter and assisted Hilfiger in
increasing awareness about his clothes and runway show. On the backend, this type of
unification permitted social media managers to track online conversations, understand the
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sentiment surrounding the collections, and compare the company to competitors during and after
fashion week. Hadid was also exposing the clothes to her audiences by posting information about
the show on her social channels. Over 16,000 people tagged her Twitter handle in their retweets
and posts. For comparison, Hilfiger’s handle was only tagged about 12,000 times. Partnering
with Hadid, promoting the collaboration with a recognizable hashtag, and using social media to
distribute content proved successful for the brand.
Figure 42: Top Hashtags for 2016 September Fashion Month
Similar to Hilfiger gaining traction in part due to his collaboration with Hadid, Michael
Kors’s show was incredibly popular in 2018 due to the attendance of K-Pop star Lisa. The
singer, a member of the South Korean girl group Blackpink, currently has over 32 million
followers on Instagram alone. Her attendance exploded on social media with “#BLACKPINK,”
“#LISA,” and “#LisaxMichaelKors” becoming the top hashtags of the month (seen in Figure 43).
While the official show hashtag “#AllAccessKors” was shared more than 130,000 times, the one
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that highlighted the designer and the superstar was shared over 140,000 times. Social media
users and fashionistas cared more about Lisa being at the show than the show itself. In 2016,
only two top hashtags pertained to specific events (Tommy Hilfiger and Malan Breton shows),
but in 2018, more than half of the top hashtags were related to Lisa appearing at the Michael
Kors show. Blackpink’s Twitter handle was tagged in over 32,000 tweets and Michael Kors’s
was mentioned in over 12,000 posts during September. Blackpink’s handle was tagged twice as
much as Hadid’s handle was two years prior. These examples illustrate the effects influencers
and celebrities have but also show the impact Korean culture has had on the world of fashion.
With their vibrant, bold, and colorful clothes, it’s no longer easy to ignore the rising influence
coming from East Asia. As globalization continues, K-pop stars and Seoul Fashion Week will
remain focal points for editors, designers, and fashionistas around the world.
Figure 43: Top Hashtags for 2018 September Fashion Month
While most of the top hashtags in 2018 pertained to Lisa’s appearance at the Michael
Kors’ show, “#NYFW” and “#PFW” consistently remained the top two hashtags for both years,
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highlighting the kickoff and wrap-up of September fashion month. The number of NYFW posts
was triple the amount compared to PFW. Though NYFW is only the first week, social media
doesn’t stop just because the event ends, and neither does online chatter. It’s important to
understand that regardless of the end dates, reporters, fashionistas, brands, and other industry
experts continued to discuss the runway shows and trends they saw in the weeks following. This
is why NYFW consistently had the highest amount of social volume year-after-year.
Further illustrating the popularity of NYFW, the below Topic Wheel in Figure 44 shows
the 2016 subjects that were discussed most often on social. The words on the inside of the wheel
are the “dominant topics” and the outer circle represents the subtopics. This chart shows which
themes drove online conversations during the month and helps social media managers pinpoint
the kinds of content they should be posting.
Figure 44: Topic Wheel for 2016 September Fashion Month
NYFW was the only fashion week within the inner circle. PFW and MFW were mentioned as
subtopics of “SS17,” which stands for Spring/Summer 2017, while LFW didn’t make an
appearance anywhere on the wheel. This wheel shows that, apart from NYFW, there was less of
an emphasis on the specific fashion weeks. More of the social chatter was focused on “fashion
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style” and “street style.” In line with the increasing presence of influencers mentioned in Chapter
3, “fashion blogger” was a subtopic across a variety of areas illuminating its continuous presence
in the industry during 2016.
While attending fashion shows, bloggers and influencers would post on social media in
real-time, giving their followers instant access to runway content. This caused publications to
struggle. Fashion magazines typically had long lead times averaging 4-5 months before they
were ready to publish. This resulted in brands partnering with influencers and shifting away from
print advertisements. Usually, ads in an issue of InStyle ranged from $112,400 for 1/3 of a page
to $123,400 for a full-color full-page placement (“InStyle 2020 Media Kit”). Readers were
moving online to access pictures and articles, and companies were following suit. Partnering
with bloggers who had strong online presences cost less than print ads and often netted greater
engagements. People were no longer obsessing over large, glossy print advertisements but
instead were listening to what products their favorite influencers used. Table 1 shows the
difference in total social followings between publications and bloggers to illustrate why bloggers
such as Chiara Ferragni were being used for partnerships in place of print ads. The total
following numbers only account for social platforms, though print reader circulation is noted in
the last column for publications. While the top spot on the list is a publication, Vogue, Sugg and
Ferragni both have larger social followings than the other fashion publications. Elle and Camila
Coelho, a popular Brazilian blogger, round out the top five spots, with more bloggers making the
“Top 5” than publications. Glamour, InStyle, Harper’s Bazaar, and Marie Claire take their
chronological spots on the list with Aimee Song quick on their heels. As this shift to digital
occurred, influencer marketing started to become a sought-after service. Brands began to realize
the return on investment they could receive by accessing audiences who proactively wanted to
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engage with their content. Even though publications still have large followings both in print and
online, partnering with bloggers and influencers has become an important component of the
marketing mix to grow exposure, improve engagement, and increase sales.
Table 1: Most Followed Bloggers & Fashion Publications
Name Type
Instagram
Followers
Facebook
Followers
Twitter
Followers
YouTube
Subscribers
Total
Social
Following
Print
Circulation
1. Vogue Publication 26.7M 8.9M 13.7M 7.5M 56.8M 24.6M
2. Zoë Sugg
(Zoella)
Blogger 9.4M 2.3M 12.2M 16.2M 40.1M -
3. Chiara
Ferragni
Blogger 19.5M 1.2M 431K 142K 21.2M -
4. Elle Publication 4.9M 5.4M 6.7M 1.3M 18.3M 1M
5. Camila
Coelho
Blogger 8.7M 2.6M 275.5K 1.1M 12.6M -
6. Glamour Publication 2M 5.6M 1.3M 3.42M 12.3M 15.6M
7. InStyle Publication 3M 4.7M 4.4M 119K 12.2M 7.3M
8. Harper's
Bazaar
Publication 4.6M 4.1M 1.6M 1.1M 11.4M 762K
9. Marie
Claire
Publication 1.7M 3.7M 2.2M 87.5K 7.6M 959K
10. Aimee
Song
Blogger 5.5M 840K 69.6K 346K 6.7M -
This embracing of fashion bloggers is highlighted in the Topic Wheel for 2018 (Figure
45). “Fashion blogger” and “fashionista” were dominant subjects that were widely discussed
among online users during fashion month. Within two years, the main topics of discussion had
shifted away from “style” towards the people who were being photographed in the clothes: the
fashion bloggers. By 2018, this group had established itself as leaders in the clothing world. The
industry underwent an immense transformation due to fashion fanatics who were not afraid to
share their personal style online. Nowadays, influencers, with their thousands if not millions of
followers, are seen as on par with celebrities. They can easily be incorporated into a brand’s
narrative to connect the products to the consumers. Sharing stories on social media platforms such
as Instagram and utilizing influencers are part of the necessary changes that designers must adapt
to address the changing attitudes of their customers.
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Figure 45: Topic Wheel for 2018 September Fashion Month
While this chapter has demonstrated how social media is used for promotion, it is vital to
understand how brands need to leverage these platforms properly to target specific audiences and
engage with them. While there are many success stories for online campaigns, when used in the
wrong way, social media can negatively impact a business. An example of this is purse and
handbag designer Vera Bradley’s “Why It’s Good to Be a Girl” campaign, which ended up
coming across as sexist for telling consumers five shades of lipstick was all they needed. The
campaign was composed of different posters shared on Instagram and pictured in buses and
subways, along with six short videos featuring an array of influencers including blogger Color
Me Nana. In the videos, women and girls were asked to share what was good about being a
woman. The campaign’s purpose was to create an open dialogue about modern-day femininity.
While the videos were thought-provoking and powerful, the posters resulted in quotes that
completely missed the mark. The graphics included messaging such as, “We’ll take a handbag
over a briefcase any day” or “That moment when a gentleman offers you his seat.” Many people
on Twitter used the campaign hashtag to express their frustration with the company, sharing that
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the campaign represented women as weak. The backlash on social media led to Vera Bradley
recrafting their messages and updating their posters nation-wide. With one bad tweet, a brand
can lose prospective and current customers and its reputation. Additionally, it can be difficult to
directly link sales to social media campaigns, but businesses with high levels of engagement
from their online communities have seen their online sales grow faster than some of their rivals
who only use traditional media tactics.
The following is a summary of 10 Best Practices that businesses should implement to use
social media to their advantage:
1. DO NOT: Immediately start posting on social media.
INSTEAD: Create social media guidelines, come up with tangible goals, and establish a
digital strategy for how the brand will utilize different platforms.
2. DO NOT: Sound like a robot.
INSTEAD: Bring personality to the brand’s posts and comments. Social media is about
interacting with other people and adding a personal touch can leave a positive impression.
3. DO NOT: Treat all social media platforms as if they are the same.
INSTEAD: Understand that audiences and language will differ among platforms. Tailor the
messages and content to be platform-specific.
4. DO NOT: Use social media in a detached, unengaged way.
INSTEAD: Monitor engagement, generate conversations around the content, and interact
with followers to build loyalty. Social media is a two-way street, not a one-way one.
5. DO NOT: Focus on quantity over quality.
INSTEAD: Focus on engagement over follower counts. Extremely engaged followers are
more likely to translate into sales rather than having a lot of followers who do not interact
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with the content. The focus should be on creating lifelong fans that are invested in the
brand’s message.
6. DO NOT: Ignore comments or feedback, even if it’s negative.
INSTEAD: Respond to questions, comments, and feedback to show customers you hear and
care about what they are saying. Ignoring negative feedback will only create frustrated
customers and could damage a brand’s reputation. Follow the company’s social media
guidelines on how to respond to negative feedback. Monitoring feedback will help to
understand what type of content resonates with audiences and what doesn’t.
7. DO NOT: Post too little or too infrequently.
INSTEAD: Plan on posting between five to seven days a week, so that customers can be
exposed to the content continuously.
8. DO NOT: Always feel the need to jump in and overshare. Brands do not need to be a part of
every conversation that occurs.
INSTEAD: Create an editorial calendar to plan when content will be posted and focus on
sharing posts that will bring value to followers.
9. DO NOT: Ignore social media analytics.
INSTEAD: Utilize built-in social media analytics programs like Facebook Analytics and
Twitter Analytics in addition to other programs such as Crimson Hexagon, Hootsuite, and
Google Analytics to understand what is working and where the company is losing customers.
10. DO NOT: Only use one digital social strategy.
INSTEAD: Optimize what is working for the brand and fix what is not working. Keeping
customers happy and engaged with its social content can lead to positive results, but content
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that has no engagement will just decrease value. Adjust as needed depending on how
customers and followers respond.
Not utilizing social media platforms for marketing purposes means missing out on a quick,
inexpensive, and efficient way to reach almost half the world’s population. Using them
empowers fashion brands to directly connect with current and prospective customers, bloggers,
influencers, industry figureheads, and competitors. These platforms can complement traditional
media relations (such as pitching reporters), create stronger campaigns, and strengthen
communication efforts for a company. The above practices can be tailored to fit whatever is
needed for different audiences and following them will assist communicators in creating
successful social media strategies for clients in today’s fashion industry.
While these tips are helpful for businesses in achieving online success, PR professionals
should use social media in parallel with different components of fashion PR to generate brand
awareness. While a large amount of time is spent securing editorial coverage, which is content
focused on the company that is published by a third-party outlet such as Vogue, publicists are
also writing pitches to obtain those placements, liaising with fashion editors, producing fashion
shows each season, launching new products, gifting clothes and accessories, and dressing
celebrities or influencers for red carpet events.
Working with editors is a vital part of PR because they are the people who write articles
for prominent global publications. To create interest around a company, media kits are sent to
editors to provide a one-stop-shop of information, often in addition to pitches which convince
them that a story idea is newsworthy. These kits include news releases, company backgrounders,
product fact sheets, and high-resolution photos of the products or a “look book” to showcase the
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entire clothing collection. Another element often added to these kits is a sampling of past news
coverage to establish the brand as a credible company in the industry.
Social media has a large impact on news coverage because, if a fashion brand is
highlighted online by influencers, celebrities, or other editors, that can help increase its
awareness level amongst consumers. For example, when the author was interning at a PR firm
years ago, actress Jenny McCarthy was spotted wedding dress shopping at a store in NYC and
was seen trying on a dress by one of the firm’s clients, Isabelle Armstrong. The author was
tasked with writing a media alert that highlighted the celebrity sighting to get the bridal designer
written about in the news. She wrote the pitch, researched different editors and publications on
social media to see which ones were the right fit, and sent them the alert. This resulted in Isabelle
Armstrong being featured in online articles published by New York Post “Page Six” and Us
Weekly Magazine (seen in Figure 46). The posts were also shared on the outlets’ social media
pages creating additional coverage Isabelle Armstrong could leverage when pitching other
publications. When reaching out to editors, PR practitioners should do extensive research to
verify that the person they are pitching to writes content relevant to their brand and story angle.
Besides reading an editor’s past work, social media allows PR experts to see what types of
content they cover since their Twitter and Instagram pages are often used as online portfolios.
The relationship between an editor and a publicist doesn’t end after one exchange. Building
rapport with the media is key in PR because having a client be featured in the press is a way to
get their message out to different audiences. Furthermore, once you have a strong relationship
with an editor, you can proactively reach out to them to see what they have coming up to decide
if any of your clients might be a good fit for their content.
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Figure 46: Jenny McCarthy PR Pitch Results
Source: Us Weekly Magazine
Pitching and networking with editors should be a daily priority to sustain brand visibility.
Producing fashion shows is another PR component but it occurs seasonally. For example, as
illustrated above with the data from Crimson Hexagon, one of the biggest fashion events is
fashion month in September when Spring/Summer collections debut all around the world. The
PR team is involved in a variety of tasks outside of just inviting the press to the shows. Often,
they will counsel the designer on when to show the collection, conduct a competitor analysis to
confirm there are no conflicts, create an overview of the show detailing the runway, size, and
theme, and work closely with the production team to ensure the designer’s dream is
appropriately brought to life. Also, they will write a collection statement in tandem with the
designer describing the inspiration behind the clothes and will release information about the
show to the press, ensuring it aligns with the designer’s narrative. Depending on the company
and its ethos, some designers may have a small dinner party for top editors, influencers,
celebrities, and friends to have everyone interact with the collection more intimately, while other
89
brands may have bigger activations. Regardless of the event, PR teams will be involved in
planning, executing, and securing coverage of it to ensure brand awareness increases.
Throughout this process, behind-the-scenes footage and photos should be captured and shared on
social before and after the event to sustain interest from the public. Followers on Instagram like
to see how a sketch the designer created ended up looking on a model as she strutted down the
runway or YouTube fans enjoy seeing how the set was created for a show located inside a Paris
museum. To bring audiences an experiential show, brands use Instagram Live or Snapchat to
interview the models before they walk down the runaway and capture their real-time reactions
after the show ends. Branded hashtags for the show or specific event should be created prior so
that they can gain traction on Twitter and be used to categorize all the posts. Content should be
optimized for different social media platforms to build excitement and engagement around the
brand.
Though many designers show their new clothes during fashion week, other businesses
launch their products using an assortment of methods. These include pitching the media about
the new product, highlighting why it is unique and what value it provides consumers, sending it
to influencers, celebrities, and editors, which involves creating a high-quality presentation of the
merchandise and working with managers and publications to make sure the product gets into the
right hands, or orchestrating launch events. For the initial launch of KKW Beauty, Kim
Kardashian West invited fashion bloggers, vloggers, influencers, and important editors to her
house for an experiential event that highlighted her makeup company. Kardashian West
answered questions about the inspiration behind her brand and shared her favorite products and
tips with attendees. Months later when she launched her KKW Fragrance, she sent chocolate
heart boxes (shown in Figure 47) to the media and some of her famous friends. People used a
90
small hammer that came with the box to crack the heart open and retrieve their perfume from
inside. Both launches, while executed differently, were hugely successful and resulted in
coverage on celebrity social profiles, People.com, and other fashion blogs. Regardless of the
method, PR specialists created the media list, helped shape the narrative for the products,
ensured the event and press boxes were executed properly, and monitored the news for coverage.
Social media was an integral part of these launches because it made consumers feel like they
were there experiencing the same things as attendees. At the event, people posted what they saw
in real-time, and for the press boxes, celebrities smashing the hearts harnessed a sense of
excitement surrounding the product. While sending packages to people, known as gifting,
doesn’t guarantee the product will be featured, the hope is that they will engage with the brand
and share their experience online.
Figure 47: KKW Fragrance Chocolate Heart Press Box
Source: Kris Jenner’s Instagram Page
Another way to obtain coverage is by securing celebrities and influencers to wear a
client’s garment and/or accessories for red-carpet events or award show appearances. For
91
decades, pop culture fans have analyzed and picked apart what superstars wear on the red carpet.
What isn’t seen in these photos is a team of stylists, designers, and PR professionals who have
worked together to create the look that appears in photographs. Over the years, fans have also
become interested in a celebrity’s personal style and will look for paparazzi shots taken at
airports, clubs, or on the street to better understand and mimic the person’s aesthetic. Stars are
working more and more with their stylists to craft “off-duty” looks, and fashion houses have
grown to cater to them. Thus, PR professionals must build relationships with stylists who then
will hopefully dress their clients in pieces from a specific designer. Pieces are either gifted or
loaned from companies to elite clientele for the sole possibility that they will wear the product in
public and be photographed in it. Once the clothes leave the showroom, hours are spent by the
PR team searching paparazzi sites, media outlets, and social media pages to see if any images
appear of the celebrity wearing the outfit.
With social media, the team is monitoring a 24-hour news cycle, and getting published
isn’t even guaranteed. Additionally, sometimes the captured look, while still from the same
brand, isn’t even necessarily the piece that was shipped out. With celebrity street style becoming
more popular, there have been instances where an accessory will be spotted and come out in the
press years after it made its debut on the runway. It’s essential for PR practitioners who are
monitoring the news to know the current and past clothing pieces to ensure they catch any press
that occurs. Nowadays, stylists also have Instagram pages that are run like online portfolios, so
often they post their client’s looks and tag the fashion brands. Figure 48 displays a social post
stylist Karla Welch shared of her client, Tracee Ellis Ross, wearing a gold gown for the 2020
Vanity Fair Oscars party. She tagged all the fashion brands in the photo along with the handles of
the beauty team that helped Tracee get ready. This post gave the designers additional visibility
92
because other audiences were being introduced to their company, and it showed credibility
because a celebrity used them for an event.
Figure 48: Karla Welch’s Vanity Fair Party Instagram Post
Source: Karla Welch’s Instagram Page
The purpose of PR is to create a message on behalf of a brand and ensure that the
public’s opinion matches it. While fashion PR is one of the more challenging fields, the
best workers go unnoticed behind-the-scenes. They promote the latest styles and products in
creative ways, ranging from pitching reporters to building fashion shows to gifting
products to dressing celebrities. While fashion brands should be running campaigns on
their social channels and partnering with influencers to market their products, they also
need to leverage a team of experts who can entwine digital efforts with PR efforts to create
a strong, holistic communications marketing strategy. A combination of the promotion
93
techniques outlined in this chapter will sustain, if not increase, interest in a fashion brand
season-to-season as new clothes debut and old collections fade away.
94
Conclusion
Undeniably, social media has entirely transformed the way people interact with each
other. Consumers are now heavily influenced by digital content, especially when it comes to
fashion. It used to be popular for shoppers to page through glossy magazines to see the latest
runway looks. These publications created a level of exclusivity because the world of fashion was
controlled by editors and designers. The best publicity for a company was when it was featured
in Vogue or had a billboard in Times Square. However, these types of promotions no longer hold
the same amount of influence anymore due to their static nature. Now, with wide-spread access
to online platforms ranging from YouTube to Snapchat, consumers can see the garments come
down the catwalk instantly and decide if they want to engage with the content. Individuals read
about the latest products on the Internet to see what others are wearing. What product is their
favorite blogger or influencer currently obsessed with? Which designer features the chicest
outfits on Instagram? What style is trending on Twitter? These changes have pushed brands to
connect with their fans in a deeper, more interactive way, bringing social media to the forefront
of the communications mix.
Social media provides brands with the opportunity to disperse content in a more dynamic
and authentic way by leveraging influencers who align with the company’s values. The key to
success is picking the right voice to be the megaphone that distributes product messaging to the
public. Over the years, bloggers, vloggers, and influencers who weren’t afraid to share their
outfits with strangers on the Internet have built communities of loyal fans who view their
recommendations as if it was one of their friend’s. Realizing the power that this group has,
companies have begun to incorporate influencer marketing into their broader communications
strategy to drive conversation and increase sales. The opportunities for businesses are endless,
95
ranging from year-long partnerships (Aimee Song’s collaboration with Estée Lauder) to
attendance at fashion shows (BryanBoy seated front row at Marc Jacob’s) to product posts
shared on social media (Susie Lau’s sponsored Coach post on Instagram). There is no denying
the power influencers have with consumers, making it critical for companies to utilize this
approach when marketing their products.
To effectively build trust between brands and consumers, social media campaigns and
influencer marketing must be infused with traditional PR strategies. If fashion companies don’t
start integrating these approaches into their business models, they will undoubtedly lose
customers, thus diminishing their influence in the industry. To meet these new demands, PR
practitioners will be expected to perform tasks outside of media pitching. They may need to
produce a fashion show that is streamed on Facebook Live, manage influencer programs for a
product launch, or create social content for a company’s Twitter page. They must expand their
core competencies to successfully manage a fashion brand’s voice, messaging, and reputation in
today’s society. As marketing continues to expand with new social networking sites and media
forms arising such as TikTok and podcasts, PR professionals will be presented with uncharted
territories for which they must grow their skillsets to address the growing needs of their clients
and the ever-changing communications landscape.
96
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Appendix A: Email Interview with Katie Durko, Founder of The Social Kat
1) How would you describe your job?
As a social media manager, I am responsible for developing and implementing marketing
strategies for my client’s social media sites. This includes daily platform management, content
creation (and curation), and influencer relations. I am also responsible for regularly evaluating
the success of my marketing efforts through weekly analytics and tweaking the strategy as
needed. In my job, I must stay on top of industry trends (including what platforms are most
popular and which bloggers are the most influential), so I can create a social strategy that
generates leads, gains followers, and creates a positive image for the brands I represent.
2) What media mix do you use to promote your clients on social media? What percentage is
paid, earned, shared or owned?
This is a rough estimate:
Shared – 40% - Shared content, community driven content and co-creation
Earned – 30% - Blogger/influencer relations
Owned – 20% Creating content and curating that content to tell a cohesive story on social is an
important part of what I do, but a lot of the time I share this responsibility with people working
in-house at the brand.
Paid – 10% I do not handle much paid advertising for my clients. We will test social ads here and
there, but it is not my specialty or focus. Regarding influencers, I generally offer gifting before I
offer to pay, and a lot of times (especially in fashion) it works.
3) How has social media affected your career?
Social media has allowed me to start my own business! My career started in traditional luxury
PR at Burberry when social media was just starting to gain buzz. I remember how big of a
milestone it was for the company when we hit 1 million Facebook fans (for comparison, the
company currently has over 17 million fans). It wasn’t until I moved back to Los Angeles from
New York in 2012 and started working for bridal designer Monique Lhuillier that my job
description entailed “social media management” – and even then, Instagram was barely on
anyone’s radar. During my time at Monique, I really started to see the impact of social media –
both on my career and on the fashion industry. Now, fashion houses have whole departments
dedicated to social media (or work with social media agencies, like myself on a retainer basis).
4) What are successful ways you have leveraged social media?
1. Giveaways and contests
a. Ex. I recently started a weekly giveaway with my pool float brand
@Float_Naked. It’s called #FloatNakedFridays - each Friday we offer our IG
followers a chance to win a float. Even though the company only has 5k followers
on the platform, over 500 people have entered each week.
117
2. Encouraging social recommendations
a. I work with a health/beauty company (@SagelyNaturals) and every two weeks we
post a customer testimonial on the IG and FB pages to encourage other satisfied
customers to do the same. We’ve seen positive feedback and an increase in sales.
3. Directing followers to blog
a. At Paper Crown, we are constantly directing people to the link in our IG bio, so
that we can get them over to Lauren’s blog to read more about the brand and shop
the collection. Once we get them to the site, we also try to capture them for our
email newsletter database.
4. Quick customer service
a. Once something is posted on any social platform for my clients, we closely
monitor the engagement and respond quickly to any comments – both positive
and negative. Customers truly appreciate brands taking the time to listen.
5. Do good
a. During breast cancer awareness month, my active wear client, Vimmia, designed
a breast cancer awareness legging with 20% of the proceeds going to breast
cancer research. We found 8 breast cancer survivors, sent them each a pair of the
leggings and interviewed them. These interviews were exclusively featured on our
social media platforms alongside photos of the women in the leggings. The
official hashtag for this initiative was #VimmiaxBCA.
5) What are some of your disappointments with using social media?
One thing that really disappointments me about social media is how much weight the number of
followers has on a brand (or person). I have worked with some incredible companies and talent,
but because they don’t have a certain number of followers, people don’t take them seriously and
influencers won’t work with them without putting a big price tag behind it.
6) Do you use Snapchat, Periscope, Facebook Live, etc.? What ways are using different
platforms?
I was using Snapchat a lot more for my clients before Instagram Stories came out. Now that I can
do two things without leaving the single platform (and have the built-in audience for both),
Snapchat is not as vital. Facebook Live is something I have just started getting into. I recently
did a FB Live with Brides.com and Lauren Conrad, which went extremely well. Fans loved the
opportunity to tune in and speak with Lauren in real time (via the comments section of the page).
After the live feed ended, we noticed a huge increase in traffic to both our Facebook page and
website.
7) What metrics are you looking at for social media? Impressions, social action (ex. retweets,
likes, etc.), emotional tone, sentiment analysis, etc.
Engagement is #1. If a brand I am working with has, for example, 100k followers, but their
engagement is below 1%, there is a lot of room for improvement. The higher your engagement,
the more interested and excited your followers are with your brand, which is important if you are
hoping to convert those followers into sales. Week after week we also look at things like:
118
• Number of new & lost followers, new & lost page likes
• Sentiment of engagements
• Most popular content monthly & to date
• Total engagement monthly & to date
• Total reach generated
8) Is there pressure to be on every social media platform?
I think there is pressure to be on certain social platforms. Instagram, for example, is a
nonnegotiable at the moment. Every client I have is on Instagram and active. My advice to
clients is to pick one or two platforms and work hard to produce original content and build those
platforms well instead of spreading yourself too thin and trying to gain notoriety on every single
platform out there. After Instagram, I would say Facebook is second most popular, then Twitter
(in the fashion space, particularly).
9) Have you noticed a shift of trying to get a client featured in Vogue to having more of a focus
on your client being shown on Vogue’s social media rather than in the publication?
It really depends on the client. I work with some brands that are still very traditional in their
ways and want to see their product printed in book, while others only care about who posts/tags
them on social. I am definitely seeing more of a shift now than I was 4 years ago to the latter, but
there will always be something to say about landing that coveted editorial piece (especially with
luxury clients).
10) Since the invention of social media, how has the fashion industry changed?
The fashion industry has changed in so many ways! Think about the models on the runway –
now fashion houses are choosing those people based on their follower count on platforms like
Instagram. My fashion clients always look at the social media profiles of people before deciding
who to use in a campaign, who to gift and/or who to invite to an event. You’ll also notice that
brands with higher levels of engagement on Instagram are often growing their online sales more
rapidly than those who are not as active.
11) How do you think fashion bloggers are succeeding at leveraging social media?
Bloggers and digital influencers are completely reshaping the fashion landscape. They are
generating sales for their brand partnerships that editors could only dream of. They are creating
fresh and engaging content on a daily basis. They are promoting products and interacting with
their fans by the minute, and it’s working - they are the new celebrities of our generation.
12) Where do you see the fashion industry heading in the future?
Fashion is moving faster than ever. With product turnaround and shipping nearly instant, I see
businesses like Amazon getting more involved in the fashion space (think: private labels). Also,
Instagram has just started rolling out its shop-able feature and I imagine by years end, every
brand will be able to sell via the platform.
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Bischofberger, Irene
(author)
Core Title
Digital discourse in the fashion industry
School
Annenberg School for Communication
Degree
Master of Arts
Degree Program
Strategic Public Relations
Publication Date
06/27/2020
Defense Date
06/26/2020
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
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Tag
Fashion,influencer,OAI-PMH Harvest,Public Relations,social media
Language
English
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Electronically uploaded by the author
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Advisor
LeVeque, Matthew (
committee chair
), Floto, Jennifer (
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), Lynch, Brenda (
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)
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irene.bischofberger@gmail.com,irenebischofberger@me.com
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