The Rise in Influence of Luxury & Fashion Blogs: I Beg to Differ.

I read Nicola Copping's article published in the Financial Times' "Weekend" section yesterday about the growing influence of style bloggers. I personally think it's great that many of the better bloggers are finally getting the recognition and respect they deserve. Kudos to them! The article itself however struck a cord with me less for what it said than for what it failed to say. Also, it contains some whopping generalizations about those of us who read and write blogs that I would like to address.

First, many of us who read and write blogs are not merely sideline spectators as the article suggests. We are in fact consumers of luxury goods and services. I use the term "consumer" in the classic sense of the term meaning we do in fact purchase luxury goods and services AND unlike celebrities and many journalists/editors, we pay full retail price for the privilege.

Second, the rise in influence of social media cannot be explained merely as a generational issue. In fact, the rise in influence of social media among consumers of luxury goods and services in particular is actually not that difficult to explain. We are poorly served by the journalists and publications that cover the sector and have been for years. The tone and content of most fashion publications would insult the intelligence of the average fruit fly let alone the average reader. I use the term "reader" loosely because I personally cannot remember the last time a feature in a major glossy held my attention past the second or third paragraph. Like most people, I buy magazines for the editorial spreads or rather what's left of them. Even this is changing however as sites such as Fashionair.com and Net-A-Porter continue to successfully blend editorial and sales opportunities in new and creative ways.

Moreover, we place no faith in the ramblings of most fashion journalists because we've figured out that a great many of them either have no choice but to write glowing drivel about their subject due to the editorial policy of the publications they write for or, they too rather enjoy the perks of the trade and have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. In this respect, Ms. Copping's reference to the new FTC rules governing disclosure of benefits received by bloggers was just a little galling. If the FTC is concerned about the undue influence of a few lip gloss samples on bloggers, what are we to make of the kind of swag routinely doled out to many fashion and luxury journalists? Either way, with few exceptions, the offerings of mainstream fashion publications are of little significance to most consumers of luxury goods and services.

Finally, I would simply point out that the luxury and fashion industries are not jumping on the Web 2.0 bandwagon because they want to but rather because they can no longer afford to ignore it. According to a recent study of French consumers, the Internet has surpassed print and television as the preferred source of information for consumers. Although the study does not focus on luxury goods and services per se, the importance of its findings cannot be overstated. The Internet now ranks above print, television and radio in influence over consumers' purchasing decisions in no fewer than fourteen of the nineteen product categories surveyed including automobiles, travel, jewelry and leather goods. Incidentally, the study specifically points to the growing influence of User Generated Content such as blogs and forums as a complement to information derived by consumers from a brand's official site.

What is clear from Ms. Copping's article is that the rise in influence of social media in general and blogs in particular is rapidly changing the established order of things. The importance of these changes to the fashion and luxury industries would have merited a closer examination of the reasons why consumers are choosing to trust User Generated Content over traditional sources of information. Given the current economic climate, consumers who pay full retail price for their luxury goods and services deserve at least that.

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Comments

[Dahlia]

@Helene:

I think that's the tricky part of the industry where things aren't so well defined between fashion magazines featuring fashion bloggers or vice versa. Is the content made out of love or out of marketing purposes when a blogger is featured in a magazine? Perhaps a little bit of both?

To answer Lucie's assumption about some fashion bloggers, I did start mine out of pure curiosity and research since I was freelancing for an online fashion magazine, but felt that there was no objective opinion coming across the articles I was writing. It only pushed me further when I overheard my cousin say that Robin Givhan of the Washington Post gave up a Vogue position after 6 months because she thought the writing was too positive and not critical enough. When I say criticism, it is not in the Fashion Police sense, but something more refreshing than constant favorable reviews of every designer collection deemed to be "fabulous."

I think that blogs can be a great stepping stone into journalism, but you definitely need courses to know how to structure an article according to the newspaper's style if you're really considering to become a serious journalist.

[Helene]

Interesting point Lucie. But, what if Garance Dore as a blogger truly admires Carine Roitfeld for her personal style and point of view on fashion (along with about 99.9% of all followers of fashion)? Does the fact that she has accepted to collaborate with Paris Vogue necessarily discredit her work? Conversely, I routinely find myself defending Anna Wintour from attacks I view as unfair, unduly personal or sexist. It doesn't stop me from criticizing her magazine when I feel it's justified (which, as it turns out, is fairly frequent).

Also, I'm not sure I agree with your assumption that many blogs were set up by people looking to break into fashion journalism. I see a great many blogs as having been started by people who had a very different point of view to put across about how fashion is created, marketed and delivered to the masses and ultimately consumed by them. I see in this more a desire to change fashion rather than join its ranks and sanction the status quo. Blogs (along with other forms of social media) are meant after all to be participatory.

I think that as the relationship between the fashion industry and blogs progresses, it will be important not to judge all blogs by the treatment reserved to a small handful of bloggers (Scott Schuman, Garance Dore, Tommt Ton and others).

Thank you for your comment - this is turning into a very lively discussion. I love it!

Helene

[Lucie]

I totally agree with you Dahlia.

I also think that the way magazines have been hiring bloggers to write/take photos for them is quite interesting.
Something like Garance's profile of Carine Roitfeld published on Vogue.fr was I believe a good example of mélange des genres. As a blogger, she's meant to have her independence but she is in fact doing a feature about her employer.

Bloggers might end up acting like other media because many blogs were set up by people who wanted to get into fashion journalism, rather than as a hobby or as reaction to how the system is working. Some bloggers might take how many invites they get or freebies they are offered as a proof of their blog worth and influence, because the most important magazines are seen as having those kind of privileges.

[Ms. P&C]

Well said, Helene! I had issues with that article too, namely some of the blogs that they highlighted as "suggested reading". Clearly the editor did not dig deep to find the new vibrant voices in the blogosphere, and merely went with the same bloggers who have been getting PR for years.

So you see, even in the blogging world, the clique is on.

[Helene]

You make an excellent point Dahlia - well said!

Regarding the disclosure of benefits (samples, invitations, gifts of all kind), I agree with you that this is precisely the potential pitfall for bloggers that find themselves on the upper end of the blogosphere's food chain. As I've stated before, I think disclosure rules are absolutely essential for blogs given the increased influence bloggers have over consumers. Unfortunately, the FTC rules conveniently ignore the fact that journalists and editors have been benefiting from freebies and swag of all kinds for years. Moreover, the FTC rules fail to address blogs that are ostensibly written by an independent blogger when in fact they are funded by corporate interests. The 'Mrs. O' blog is a perfect example of this.

Regarding the historical importance of blog posts, I understand your point but I wonder if this is the right measure by which to judge blogs and social media in general. The nature of social media (especially its immediacy) and the nature of the subject matter (fashion) may not lend themselves readily to meaningful insights. I agree with Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood, social media such as twitter is more akin to signaling than actual writing. Perhaps we need to judge it accordingly.

Thank you for your very honest and insightful comment.

Helene

[Dahlia]

Although yes, I find it great that fashion bloggers are getting significant recognition in the media circuit and from fashion designers themselves, there is simply too much schmoozing and coddling of bloggers much like it's been done to fashion editors.

What scares me is that fashion designers will eventually treat bloggers like the rest of the media. In return, fashion bloggers will react the same way as fashion editors at a magazine would: give a good review or stay mum. Bloggers used to have the freedom to say whatever they wanted, but like Copping said, could they be as objective if those brands are their advertisers? I doubt it.

Give the front rows to them (a form of bribery so that bloggers can gush), swag bags, party invitations, paid flights and free products, and you'll have many lapping up anything they could get. I've been to the lower profile fashion week in Montreal, or some small fashion event, and couldn't believe with the amount of "swag" I was given. Almost an insult to myself if I got a bag full of beauty products that seems to scream "Here's your bribe, we hope you write something good about us" and if I don't get a bag, it says to me "You're not good enough to get a bag even if you're here like everyone else".

It's a double-edged sword, the more recognition one gets, the more people assume that you will only give good reviews. I have no doubt that bloggers will be a normal branch of media and will eventually fade out in the media noise. It's just new and exciting now because fashion has never been so public before. But wait 5 years, will the top end bloggers be any relevant to us in the future? But most of all, are they saying anything that is worth reading in years to come? Can we actually reference back to the posts many fashion bloggers have and say "Wow, this person is/was really insightful." Or are we simply going to look past the gushing post and be disappointed that these people have really nothing to say?

[Lucie]

I think that one of the reasons why Maxmara had such bad financial results is their refusal to get at all involved with social media. Brands who refuse to use or even acknowledge the importance of social media are fewer and fewer. The MaxMara results showed that you can't rely on brand name anymore.