Fashion bloggers quickly became a big deal, and, whether you love it or hate it, these influencers could be on the fast track to becoming the world’s next big celebs alongside your favourite musicians, actors and models. But is there room for these influencers in the glossies and on the red carpet, and what does it mean for the fashion blogging industry as we know it?
Zanita Whittington of Zanita.com.au tells us that she has big predictions for fashion blogging in the future, one of which sees these influencers thrust further into the media’s attention. “I could say it’s kind of the new Hollywood,” she says.
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“I’m not suggesting that I’m going to be famous and chased by paparazzi or anything,” she clarifies. “But we are kind of seeing these girls who have millions and millions of followers getting on the red carpet, they are getting followed around by paparazzi, they’re getting big campaigns that would otherwise normally be booked by major actresses.”
Photo: Getty
She has a point. Gary Pepper‘s Nicole Warne shared the red carpet with the likes of Charlize Theron at Cannes Film Festival just last month, and The Blonde Salad‘s Chiara Ferragni was the first blogger to ever grace a Vogue cover earlier this year. Interestingly, Zanita shared a magazine cover with these two big guns for Lucky‘s February issue.
Let’s not forget that Zanita, along with Sara Donaldson of Harper & Harley, Amanda Shadforth of Oracle Fox, Kate Waterhouse of katewaterhouse.com and Nadia Fairfax of Fairfax journal also star on their own hit TV show, Fashion Bloggers, just like legit reality stars.
We’re hardly through the first half of 2015, and fashion bloggers are clearly making their mark on not only the fashion industry, but also in the entertainment industry in general. But why are they, like Zanita mentioned, getting campaigns which would otherwise be booked by Hollywood’s finest?
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We understand that some of these fashion bloggers now have over a million followers on Instagram, meaning phenomenal coverage for the brand or publication at hand, but some big-name celebs generally still trump their measly few mill. It must either come down to their booking fees, or the way in which they’re able to connect to their audience.
Photo: WENN
Harper & Harley’s Sara tells us that bloggers need to be relatable, a quality which celebrities don’t necessarily possess. “I think you have to be aspirational but also relatable as well,” she explains.
“That older sister’s best friend kind of vibe where you want to look up to them and be like, ‘Oh they’re so amazing but I can still have a chat and trust them and appreciate their opinion’.”
But if fashion bloggers are spending more and more time on the red carpets and on magazine covers, and less time on the street-style scene and on their blogs, are they inadvertently losing that connection to their audience?
Sure, we could relate to the struggle of finding the perfect office-chic outfit for work, but most of us definitely can’t relate to picking between a Givenchy or Chanel clutch for the amfAR Gala.
Photo: WENN
While fashion bloggers now have a place on the Hollywood scene, we’re predicting that the Hollywood scene won’t have a place on fashion blogs. Isn’t that what TMZ is for?
The likes of Nicole, Chiara, Leandra Medine, Aimee Song and more might call themselves fashion bloggers now, but sooner or later, their high-profile lives could get in the way of what, and who, we’ve grown to love over the years.
Remember when Nicole used to sell $10 vintage dresses down at the beachside markets on the first Sunday of every month? When the biggest brand she worked with was Myer’s affordable in-house brand Miss Shop?
Perhaps we’ll just be further inspired by how far they’ve come, or maybe we’ll be pissed off that we can no longer afford the clothes they’re wearing or get invited to the same events they’re attending. Maybe they’ll tap a new market. Or, will the fashion blogging industry only have room for those who are up-and-comers, not red-carpet-goers and campaign-fronters?
Only time will tell, but if things keep going in this direction, fashion blogging could simply become a stepping stone for bigger, better and more glamorous things.
But, hey, if we had to choose between slaving behind our computers or hitting up lavish events where we could bump into our pre-pubescent celebrity crush, we’d probably be picking the latter too.
