Glamazons,
We’re less than a week away from New York Fashion Week, and there are several changes in store for the Fall 2014 season. On the heels of statements made earlier this season by Oscar de la Renta, Catherine Bennett, the Senior VP and Managing Director for IMG (the company behind Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week), announced that many of the surplus fashion bloggers who normally grace the rows of the runway shows will not be invited to attend next year.
Catherine famously said: “Fashion Week was becoming a zoo. What used to be a platform for established designers to debut their collections to select media and buyers has developed into a cluttered, often cost-prohibitive and exhausting period for our industry to effectively do business.”
Now, if you have ever had the privilege of attending #NYFW or perusing a few style blogger sites, there are normally swarms of enthusiastic individuals standing backstage, taking photos, and generally enthralled in the entire atmosphere. Things can get hectic. After all, it is Fashion Week. But what I am afraid this sort of blacklisting does is reinforce the notion of a social hierarchy that has plagued bloggers for years.
Bryan Boy and Anna Wintour share front row at Fashion Week
Since as early as the 1950s, there has been a negative stigma that surrounds fashion writers. As the new century ushered in the term ‘blogger’, there seemed to be an increasing amount of criticism and hostility toward bloggers from inside and outside the fashion industry. The thinking goes: since most bloggers aren’t trained writers, why should their opinions matter as much as reputable reporters or magazine editors? Why should these “amateurs” be given access to shows while seasoned professionals wait outside or sit in a row behind them?
Tavi Gevinson front row at Fashion Week. Editors complained about sitting behind her elaborate bow.
That perspective ignores the changing nature of fashion, and its rapid democratization. Fashion Week involves much more than the designers, production teams and models. Fashion bloggers are relatable and accessible and their relationship to their readers feels more intimate than that of traditional media channels. When bloggers cover Fashion Week, they integrate their firsthand experiences and personal takeaways from each show in a way that readers perceive as organic and fascinating.
This type of intimacy is rare and valuable. Readers are able to experience the brand without the perceived bias of marketing dollars and corporate structure (though in recent years, sponsored blog posts have threatened to compromise some bloggers’ integrity). If readers believe a blogger is unbiased, they are more likely to embrace and support the brands said blogger covers. That support turns into demand and eventually sales for the brand. It’s a no-brainer.
Remember when there was limited access to the inner workings of the fashion industry? Now, it’s practically within arms reach 24/7 and bloggers were instrumental in bringing that chain to fruition. The fashion industry loves to be elitist but it can’t function or thrive without the masses, and bloggers provide the missing link between the two divergent worlds.
I do respect the idea of keeping #NYFW chaos-free but you can do that without banishing bloggers, who wield more power than the industry gives them credit for. If you get rid of bloggers, you’re alienating readers who crave more insight and accessibility into fashion, and I believe that does more damage than good.
Glamazon Jessica at the Nicole Miller presentation during Fashion Week
What are your thoughts on this huge change-up? Are you eager to see it go into effect this upcoming Fashion Week?
Keeping It Fashionable,
Glamazon Briea
1 Comment