Thoughts on Fashion Bloggers

art of intelligent compromise
it's a good line...is there a book by that name...?
there must be...
sounds like a tony robbins seminar...
^_^

i think that's true with big things...
but with silly things like this, it's easy to simply walk away without any permanent consequences...
one doesn't need to crawl in the mud...

it's only fashion...
no one's survival depends on it...
i would say to those who are caught up in the mess...
"get another job..."
on that doesn't require you to be a wh*re...
then you can look yourself in the mirror without any plastic surgery or face paint, etc...
then you can be proud of who you are as a human being...

it feels better than any designer anything...
i swear...
 
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For me it is all about the fashion and less about the instant exposure. I personally write about fashion a lot in my work and also have a YouTube dedicated to the world of fashion and lifestyle. Though there is a lot of social media work that goes into the dedication I have to share my fashion visions, to me the actual stylings and looks always comes first.

I find it disheartening when people live through their phones and cannot enjoy the visual aspect of an optical based lifestyle. There is so much creativity that is offered through fashion and it should not be missed because someone is trying to show off or get their tweet in the fastest.

I live by the motto - share your art and creativity with the world but do not get lost in trying to outdo the next person. :smile:
 
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I think fashion 'bloggers' as a trend is almost over. People don't read blogs as much as they once did - it's now all on instagram and is right there visually. It's not often that people click into their blogs even if they have one.
 
I think fashion 'bloggers' as a trend is almost over. People don't read blogs as much as they once did - it's now all on instagram and is right there visually. It's not often that people click into their blogs even if they have one.

Spot on. Most fashion bloggers have already moved onto Instagram too. However, I've started unfollowing a lot of them because, like their blogs, their Instagrams are all the same. The 'Instafashion' market has become saturated with wannabes now who all do the same exact same poses...it's infuriating.

If anyone is serious about fashion critiques then I still think they come to forums like TFS where people are blunt and honest and don't care about 'showing off' their style etc.
 
Question is how low are you willing to sink to ensure livelihood (general life question, not just about bloggers lol). Given our current state of anomie as evidenced in the past couple of weeks, I guess the answer to my own question is "bottomless barrel".. :lol:

Bloggers or editors are no longer a big concern... yes it is depressing, but if people think things can't get any worse and let's attack what's already here.. big mistake!. I think they should look at the poorly promising forecast vloggers are painting for us, especially fashion vloggers: "I WAS KIDNAPPED!" (.. by my vlogger boyfriend jokingly into the forever 21 fitting rooms), "I AM GETTING MARRIED!" (.. to my new purse), "HE HIT MY FACE!" (my cat), "2 DOLLAR VICTORIA'S SECRET HAUL" "VEGAN FISH".

These people make the fools dressed like tropical parrots at NYFW look so harmless and tame. I think the people that have some degree of power to redirect the path we're heading to should foment criticism and the importance of integrity to compensate against something that's gaining momentum by the minute.

That cracked me up :lol:

Came a bit late to this topic. Not surprised by the 2016 article by Sally Singer. Most fashion people are so incredibly two-faced and obsessed with their social standing. There are exceptions but most people take, take, take and rarely give back. It's just a vile environment. People hate on each other and hypocritically confess each other eternal love on social media, to show their (fake) 'good standing' and gain a few followers. It's sad, really... When again were creativity and self-expression encouraged and positively rewarded in fashion?

There is hope though, I just read a hilarious story about a hotel owner in Dublin 'exposing' a blogger who asked for a free stay in turn for exposure on her channels, which he denied and then published her shameless request :lol: The blogger community lashed back in support, and he decided to ban them all from staying at his hotel. His point is a valid one, "it puts into question the authenticity of influencer marketing, because she would have spoken nicely about the hotel only because she was getting it for free." Keep it coming! :magic:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...outube-vloggers-flooded-business-bad-reviews/
 
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Blasberg must've fast-talked Toledano into this deal, because for an uber-luxury brand like Dior, I'm not sure it's the wisest strategy. Unless the aim is to sell a lipstick here and mascara there.

IDior and YouTube Fashion & Beauty Creators Join Forces for Paris Fashion Week

Hailing from Australia, Spain, England and the U.S., the seven influencers are giving Dior greater international reach with 24 million subscribers in total.

By Rosemary Feitelberg on October 1, 2018

FIRST THINGS FIRST: Through a collaboration with YouTube’s newly formed Fashion & Beauty team, Diorprovided unprecedented access to a handful of YouTubers during Paris Fashion Week. Beauty and fashion creators Tanya Burr, Wengie, Jackie Aina, Dulceida, Lucy Moon and the Merrell Twins have been given the inside track to Dior. The new alignment is part of the brand’s continued commitment to digital innovation.

For starters, they were decked out in Dior for the house’s ready-to-wear show at the Paris Longchamp Racecourse on Sept. 24. The front-rowers had a bird’s-eye view of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s newest collection as well as the Sharon Eyal-choreographed dance performance. Hailing from Australia, Spain, England and the U.S., the seven influencers are giving Dior greater international reach. Combined, they have more than 24 million subscribers around the globe. The leader in that regard is the Chinese Australian Wen Jie Huang, better known as Wengie, a vlogger, singer and voice actress with more than 12 million subscribers. Rare Global Talent represents the U.S. contingency: Wengie, the Merrell Twins and Aina.

In a statement, Derek Blasberg, director of Fashion & Beauty at YouTube, said, “When I came to YouTube I was impressed by how many style-conscious, fashion-loving, beauty-obsessed creators there are on the platform. One of the first things I wanted to do was close the gap between top-tier luxury brands and our ecosystem of YouTubers, and Dior was happy to be one of our first, exclusive partners. The content these creators have produced has been compelling, in part because it’s genuine, and a great model of what the future of digital fashion media can look like. What I love about fashion journalism is telling stories: And that’s exactly what these creators are doing.”

In the City of Lights, the YouTube creators also got an inside look into the fashion house, including a brunch at the Maison Christian Dior and behind the scenes into the backstage activities at Dior’s spring/summer 2019 show. As for the runway, Dior’s newest recruits had a lot to consider beyond the clothes. The dancers’ costumes were also created by Chiuri. The four elements of nature were reinterpreted on the performers’ multicolored leotards, which were meant to resemble body paintings, “the placement of the motifs corresponding to the anatomy, the chakras and the energetic expressions of the dancers’ bodies as the sinuously strode and twisted their way through the petal-dusted space,” according to a Dior Instagram post.

Reached in London Friday, the Merrells planned to play tourists for a few days, before flying to central Jakarta for a YouTube fanfest. High on their list of things to do in the U.K. were Buckingham Palace, “Harry Potter” destinations, the London Eye, Big Ben and “taking some really cute Instagram pictures in some cute outfits,” Vanessa Merrell said. But Paris was fresh in their minds. Vanessa Merrell said, “When we were six years old, we went to Paris for the first time. But we don’t really remember much. So technically this was our first time where we could appreciate everything and the beauty of it all.”

As for any parental supervision during this “very fun, memorable trip,” Veronica Merrell said, “Yes, our parents are with us, We were able to bring them along. Our Dad is helping to film our vlog and we’ll be celebrating our Mom’s birthday in London. In Paris, we were able to bring them to the U.S. Embassy party that was put on by YouTube. That was really cool that they got to experience the glam lifestyle with us. We got to wear these amazing Dior gowns.” Her sister Vanessa continued, “They were so beautiful, just magical. We wound up meeting Maria Grazia Chiuri. I think I said her name right…It was just a dream come true to be there and we felt like princesses.”

In addition to being YouTube “Streamy” award nominees, the pair will soon drop the holiday collection for their TRUE IMG label. The European runways will provide future fodder. Vanessa Merrell said, “We’re very inspired and we’ll post our vlog about our Paris experience – the fashion show, the brunch – and that will be uploaded Tuesday.”

Source: WWD.com
 
Thanks for resurrecting the thread, it's funny how much this thread is now irrelevant as most of the bloggers have moved to YouTube/Instagram which is now a completely different, even more sponsored, beast.
 
I've been a fan of blogging ever since its ubiquity in the mid 00s, even though I didn't do much blogging myself. In the age of reactive think-pieces, with even easier access thanks to websites like Medium, I'm surprised that fashion bloggers haven't really taken an integrated approach between their Instagram profile and blog yet. Instead of polishing up your feed with tired street style looks and poses as well as fashion imagery from years past, they could've refined their writing skill and post a thought-provoking writing every now and then which they can also promote on their Instagram accounts. Even better now that the topics are endless due to the aforementioned reactive, call-out culture of today's Internet. But then again, in order to do so, they have to be able to...well, write.~
 
Puts Dior's decision to court Youtubers very much into perspective..........

Dior Tops Most Earned Media Value Via Instagram During Fashion Shows

Jeremy Scott for Moschino, Riccardo Tisci for Burberry and Brandon Maxwell were top scorers in Italy, London and New York, respectively.

By Lisa Lockwood on October 5, 2018

Dior topped worldwide designers scoring the most media value through Instagram mentions and engagement during the recent round of spring ’19 fashion shows, according to InfluencerDB, a marketing software company that tracks the best-performing brands and influencer marketing campaigns on the social channel.

Dior, which is designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, had $3.7 million in earned media value, attracting over 7 million likes and 1,260 mentions by influencers with more than 15,000 followers.

Countries where the engagement came from were in order, Italy (15 percent); the U.S. (11 percent); Brazil (10.8 percent); India (10.2 percent); Russia (6.6 percent); Germany (5.7 percent); Spain (5.3 percent); Mexico (3.5 percent); the Ukraine (3.3 percent); France (2.9 percent), and others (25.6 percent), according to InfluencerDB.

The information was pulled directly from Instagram and analyzed in order to generate the overall earned media value based on tagged posts communicated by influencers, celebrities and notable personalities.

In Milan, the designer who earned the most media value was Jeremy Scott for Moschino, with the account, instagram.com/itsjeremyscott, who scored $1.7 million in earned media value and had 1.6 million likes, along with 254 mentions by influencers with more than 15,000 followers. Scott’s engagement came mostly from the U.S. (36.7 percent), followed by Italy (13.3 percent) and Brazil (8.5 percent), and countries with less engagement.

The other account, Instagram.com/Moschino earned $1.5 million in earned media value, had 1 million likes and 532 mentions by influencers with more than 15,000 followers. Their engagement came mostly from Italy (20.1 percent), followed closely by the U.S. (19.2 percent) and Brazil (10.6 percent), and other countries with less engagement.

In New York, the winner was Brandon Maxwell, whose spring collection was a nod to his home state of Texas. Maxwell had $1.3 million in earned media value, 1.6 million likes and 285 mentions by influencers with more than 15,000 followers. His largest engagement came from the U.S. (47.2 percent), followed by Italy (7.8 percent), Brazil (7.6 percent), the U.K. (5.6 percent) and Mexico (3.8 percent), and countries with less engagement.

In London, Riccardo Tisci, who showed his first collection as chief creative officer for Burberry, earned the most media value at $1.2 million, and 1 million likes, along with 375 mentions.

Also making the top 10 list was Off-White, which is designed by Virgil Abloh and teamed with Nike again to focus on track and field. Off-White had $1.4 million in earned media value, 6 million likes and 521 mentions. While Off-White showed its ready-to-wear collection in Paris, the largest engagement came from the U.S. (34.8 percent), followed by Italy (11.4 percent), the U.K. (6 percent), France (4.7 percent), and then countries with less engagement.

Versace, which made a deal last week to sell its business to Michael Kors Holdings, made the top 10 list earning $1.34 million in media value, with 5.7 million likes and 574 mentions. Its engagement came mostly from the U.S. (21.6 percent), followed by Italy (14.7 percent), Brazil (11.5 percent) and Russia (7.6 percent), and other countries with less engagement.

Other Instagram accounts that broke $1 million in earned media value were Dolce & Gabbana, with $1.3 million in earned media value and 3.7 million likes; Chanel, which turned its Le Grand Palais runway into a beach with an ocean and lifeguard, had $1 million in earned media value and 2.5 million likes; and Ralph Lauren, which celebrated its 50th anniversary at its Central Park fashion show, and scored $1 million in earned media value and had 5.5 million likes.

Source: WWD.com
 
As a media planner, I found all these impressive numbers of engagements rather masturbatory. Yeah sure, people talk a lot about your brands, but do they buy anything you're trying to sell? Taking into account Instagram's increasingly vast demographic, where people from every social economic classification--a parameter that the Facebook's family of apps (Facebook, IG, Audience Network, Messenger) aren't still able to fully crack--could easily follow your page and comment on its posts, those engagements won't necessarily result in surge of sales. The report of market share will determine whether or not these influencers are worth employing because at the end of the day, these brands better spend their money on refining their conversion-based campaign, which includes creating a well-rounded site or partnership with e-commerce, than having a bunch of uniformed "personalities" disingenuously fawning over your products.
 
As a media planner, I found all these impressive numbers of engagements rather masturbatory. Yeah sure, people talk a lot about your brands, but do they buy anything you're trying to sell? Taking into account Instagram's increasingly vast demographic, where people from every social economic classification--a parameter that the Facebook's family of apps (Facebook, IG, Audience Network, Messenger) aren't still able to fully crack--could easily follow your page and comment on its posts, those engagements won't necessarily result in surge of sales. The report of market share will determine whether or not these influencers are worth employing because at the end of the day, these brands better spend their money on refining their conversion-based campaign, which includes creating a well-rounded site or partnership with e-commerce, than having a bunch of uniformed "personalities" disingenuously fawning over your products.

But see, this has been precisely my contention from day one, especially where magazines were concerned. Explain the social media strategy to me in tangible monetary terms? So everyone wants their cover or story to attract either the most online traction and accumulate new followers in the process. Case in point, Rihanna. Her covers and features generate some of the highest celeb engagement numbers online, yet on the actual newsstand it doesn't measure up at all. In fact most of the time her covers undersell criminally. It's been explained to me that magazines don't really worry about the weak newsstand sales because their advertisers will only look at online reach anyway. The higher that number is, the more the magazine can charge for their ad space. But in the greater scheme of things it's still vague. Vogue may have 50 million followers, 1.2 million of those will most likely engage, but how do we know for a fact that said engagement will translate to actual sales even for the brand involved?

I don't deplore influencers and vloggers myself. True I don't care for them at all, but I can see why they're regarded as an advertising platform for some brands. They're like the bastardy offspring of a socialite and a fashion magazine in life form, with adoration and aspiration at its core. Some of them are actually rather crafty with the aesthetic they're trying to put out and the brands they partner with. I often encounter them at events and the parallel which I draw from all is an emphasis on aesthetic - which I imagine is important not only to set a tone, but to distinguish one from the other. I must also add that I've heard it first hand from an advertiser that they tend to have more success with micro influencers because they tend to have a stronger/more concise message and it's much easier to track engagement/sales.
What I do deplore however is what they represent, which for me is the continued dumbing down of an entire generation. Because everything essentially is visual, and therefore there's hardly any need to be able to structure a grammatically correct sentence. That, and how some of their public image can be problematic at times, especially considering they're supposed to be aspirational.
The fashion industry seems to have settled into the state of affairs and nowadays the distrust of bloggers, which used to be way more common 10 years ago, is virtually non-existent. Will be interesting to see how the fashion influencer will evolve, especially with Instagram as their de-facto castle. Because take them out of Instagram, and watch that multi-million digital empire come down like a pack of cards.
 
Luka Sabbat Being Sued for Not Fulfilling His Sunglasses Deal

The influencer wasn't influenced by his contract.


By Kellie Ell on November 2, 2018

calvin-klein-fragrance-launch-lm-31.jpg

Luka Sabbat

Lexie Moreland/WWD

If you’re Luka Sabbat, a photo of you could be worth $60,000.

Or to be more precise: one photo and three Instagram stories. That’s how much the Instagram influencer, also known for once dating a Kardashian, was offered when he signed a contract with PR Consulting to wear Snap’s Spectacles.

The deal included one Instagram post of Sabbat in the glasses, as well as a photo of the model and stylist wearing the specs in public.

In addition, Sabbat had to produce three Instagram stories during September’s stream of international fashion weeks: two in New York and one during Paris’ or Milan’s fashion weeks.

But the day before Halloween, PR Consulting filed a lawsuit in New York alleging Sabbat didn’t fulfill his end of the agreement.

An Oct. 19 Instagram post shows Sabbat sporting a pair of thick-rimmed, black shades. But it’s unclear if the brand is Snap. In addition, PR Consulting said in the complaint that Sabbat didn’t produce the required amount of Instagram stories, was never photographed in public with the glasses and didn’t abide by other terms, including agreeing to let the branding firm edit posts before they were put online.

Now the company wants Sabbat to pay back the $45,000 advance.

The terms of Sabbat’s contract are unknown. But according to the complaint, 20-year-old Sabbat, “admitted his default but nonetheless, refused to return any of the funds.”

History is full of celebrities and influencers not upholding their contracts for various reasons. (Remember when Natalie Portman refused to wear Dior on the red carpet after John Galliano’s anti-Semitic rant?) But it is rare that legal action is taken.

“It is too risky to sue an influencer for breach of contract in this way, lest it simply makes the brand look bad,” said Susan Scafidi, founder and director of the Fashion Law Institute in New York. “There’s always the fear of the headlines reading something like ‘The celebrity hates the brand so much that he or she can’t even be paid to wear them.’”

Sabbat, a generally well-known face among the fashionable, can be seen globetrotting on his Instagram account, from New York to Paris to Rio de Jañeiro, hanging out with the likes of Paris Hilton and Yara Shahidi, his “Grown-ish” costar, at fashion events while tagged in a Le Coq Korea jacket or Cariuma sneakers. Paid partnerships on his account include Evian Water and Seven For All Mankind.

Representatives for Sabbat and PR Consulting would not respond to requests for comment.

The latest version of the Snapchat sunglasses, which come with a camera built in the frame for taking photos and videos, range between $150 and $200.

Beca Alexander, founder and president of Socialyte, an influencer casting company, estimates that for every 100,000 followers, a brand makes about $100,000. With Sabbat’s 1.4 million Instagram followers, that’s more than a $1 million.

“The Snap glasses might win in the end by receiving more attention than they would have from a post by one single influencer,” Scafidi said.

WWD.com
 
Blogging, to me, was always about the quality of content. Most succeeded mainly because of good images. It was the images that had people coming for more.
There are only a few that come to mind that wrote really well. JefferyD's blog is one such.

Then, there are the ones that try to balance. They take the free stuff and write cheesy things but will add a "balancing note" to keep everyone in humor.
I think it was this group that killed blogging. The lure was free stuff, so lot of people got into them. One could buy followers, one could buy likes and keep the gravy flowing.

Somewhere, people saw this and the written word kept losing value. Everyone then moved to Instagram.
 
Rising Instagram Stars Are Posting Fake Sponsored Content

“It’s street cred—the more sponsors you have, the more credibility you have.”

TAYLOR LORENZ
DEC 18, 2018

Tapping through Palak Joshi’s Instagram Stories recently, you might have come across a photo that looked like standard sponsored content: a shiny white box emblazoned with the red logo for the Chinese phone manufacturer OnePlus and the number six, shot from above on a concrete background. It featured the branded hashtag tied to the phone’s launch, and tagged OnePlus’s Instagram handle. And it looked similar to posts from the company itself announcing the launch of its new Android phone. Joshi’s post, however, wasn’t an ad. “It looked sponsored, but it’s not,” she said. Her followers are none the wiser. “They just assume everything is sponsored when it really isn’t,” she said. And she wants it that way.

A decade ago, shilling products to your fans may have been seen as selling out. Now it’s a sign of success. “People know how much influencers charge now, and that payday is nothing to shake a stick at,” said Alyssa Vingan Klein, the editor in chief of Fashionista, a fashion-news website. “If someone who is 20 years old watching YouTube or Instagram sees these people traveling with brands, promoting brands, I don’t see why they wouldn’t do everything they could to get in on that.”

But transitioning from an average Instagram or YouTube user to a professional “influencer”—that is, someone who leverages a social-media following to influence others and make money—is not easy. After archiving old photos, redefining your aesthetic, and growing your follower base to at least the quadruple digits, you’ll want to approach brands. But the hardest deal to land is your first, several influencers say; companies want to see your promotional abilities and past campaign work. So many have adopted a new strategy: Fake it until you make it.

Sydney Pugh, a lifestyle influencer in Los Angeles, recently staged a fake ad for a local cafe, purchasing her own mug of coffee, photographing it, and adding a promotional caption carefully written in that particular style of ad speak anyone who spends a lot of time on Instagram will recognize. “Instead of [captioning] ‘I need coffee to get through the day,’ mine will say ‘I love Alfred’s coffee because of A, B, C,’” Pugh told me. “You see the same things over and over on actual sponsored posts, so it becomes really easy to emulate, even if you’re not getting paid.”

When a local amusement park paid several bloggers to attend the venue and post about their experience there, Joshi, a fashion and lifestyle influencer, went on her own dime and posted promotional posts as if she were part of the bigger influencer campaign.

Taylor Evans took the fake-“sponcon” game one step further, once faking the entire purpose of a trip to Miami. Technically, she was just there on vacation, paying her own way for everything, but on Instagram she positioned it as an exclusive press trip. “I took a lot of pics at restaurants and posted ‘Thanks so much XYZ restaurant for the hospitality!’” she said. “You say it in a way that people could interpret it as you having an established relationship with that brand … The hope is that it’s perceived in a way that looks like there’s a reason you’re in a different city and state, not just enjoying a weekend vacation.”

Jason Wong, the founder of the false-eyelash company Doux Lashes, said he’s surprised at the levels to which aspiring influencers have gone to promote his brand for free. “Normally influencers did one post for one product,” he said. Now “we’ve seen influencers do two to three posts for one product. They want to have a continuous stream of content to make it seem like it’s sponsored.”

Monica Ahanonu, an illustrator and Instagram influencer with nearly 12,000 followers, said that fake ads have become so common that she’s not even sure who is sponsored and who is pretending. While the Federal Trade Commission recently ruled that paid advertisements must be disclosed, influencers regularly flout those guidelines. And there are no rules against people who aren’t paid captioning their photos to make them sound like paid disclosures. Ahanonu herself posted an Instagram recently featuring custom artwork promoting a Chanel cosmetics kit. She didn’t receive payment or any product in exchange, but her post would look right at home among other Chanel ads.

For the average consumer, things become blurry quickly. Many fashion influencers tag the brands they’re using in photos, whether the clothes were purchased, given to them for free, or are part of an ad campaign. Lifestyle blogging is all about seamlessly monetizing your good taste and consumer choices, which means it can be near-impossible for laypeople to tell if an influencer genuinely loves a product, is being paid to talk about it, or just wants to be paid to talk about it.

When Allie, a 15-year-old lifestyle influencer who asked to be referred to by a pseudonym, scrolls through her Instagram feed, sometimes the whole thing seems like an ad. There’s a fellow teen beauty influencer bragging about her sponsorship with Maybelline, a high-school sophomore she knows touting his brand campaign with Voss water. None of these promotions, however, is real. Allie is friends with the people posting, so she knows. She once faked a water sponsorship herself. “People pretend to have brand deals to seem cool,” Allie said. “It’s a thing, like, I got this for free while all you losers are paying.”

“In the influencer world, it’s street cred,” said Brian Phanthao, a 19-year-old lifestyle influencer in San Diego who sees fake ads all over Instagram. “The more sponsors you have, the more credibility you have.”

Phanthao said most of the people he sees doing it grew up watching influencers and now aspire to their lifestyle. “It’s really common with kids in high school,” he said. “They’re very influenced by influencers.” At first he was astounded that brands he recognized would partner with some of the people he saw on his feed. But when he cross-checked the brands’ websites, he couldn’t find their names.

Henry, a 15-year-old beauty influencer who asked to be referred to by his first name only, said he doesn’t post fake ads himself, but said he noticed his social status rise as he got more attention online this year. “People come up to me at school like, ‘Do you get sponsored?’” he said. “When I say I do they’re like, ‘OMG that’s so cool.’ I noticed the more followers I gain, the more people in the hall come up and talk to me.”

But of course, clout is just a means to an end, and ultimately, most of the people posting fake ads hope to eventually get paid to post real ones. Evans said staging these fake promotions “makes you seem like you’re in a position to be getting things for free, which helps you build your brand or media kit … It makes you seem more established, like you have brands that you’re working with. That means you’re producing good content and you’re worthy of approaching and offering these opportunities to.”

After Samantha Leibowitz-Bienstock, a lifestyle influencer who posts under the name Trendy Ambitious Blonde, posted a photo of herself with a Betsey Johnson bag she purchased with her own money and tagged the company, she was featured on its website. She wasn’t paid, but she considered it a win for her personal brand.

But while some companies are thrilled with the free promotion, for others it’s become a headache. The owner of one sunglasses brand, who asked to remain anonymous so as not to alienate anyone in the influencer community, said the practice has put him in a tough position as a stream of mid-level influencers post mediocre-quality sponsored content seemingly on his behalf, without his approval or control.

He has seen influencers thanking his brand for “working with” them when he knew they had never partnered. “We do encourage our fans to put our stuff on Instagram. That’s how we grow,” he said. But he added that he was worried that some people appearing to be brand ambassadors could ultimately damage his business’s reputation. Though he has considered it, he has never reached out to any of the influencers and asked them to take their post down. To him, that feels like even more of a risk. “These people are looking for the most amount of attention, so if they want to make it seem like they’ve been wronged in any way by a brand, they will,” he said.

And then there’s the fact that fake sponcon misleads would-be partners. Wong was once a Tumblr star himself, and he knows the ins and outs of online marketing. But even he was recently duped. After hiring one influencer to promote his product, he later found out that all of her brand deals were fake. Now he cross-references all potential partners, calling up other brands they’ve claimed to work with to see if that work was paid.

Though it may seem like a useful tactic when you’re starting out, more established influencers worry that fake sponcon is creating a race to the bottom. Because brands can piggyback off of waves of unpaid influencer promoters, some have ceased paying influencers completely, or now pay rates far below what they previously spent.

“I don’t think people know they’re screwing each other over,” said CJ OperAmericano, a 22-year-old TikTok star. She has watched rates plummet as the industry becomes more saturated, and she recently lost out on a brand campaign to someone who offered to do it for a tenth of the price. People now treat brand deals “like a verification badge,” she said.

Vingan Klein said she can’t blame the young fashion influencers she sees coming up today for their hustle. “Trying to get sponsored is your way out of this rat race,” she said. Teens today realize that “you don’t have to go up this hierarchy; you can skip the middleman,” she added. “Besides, what do the followers know?”

The Atlantic
 
The truth is I don't think any influencers these days have or will even come close to the stratospheric rise to fame enjoyed by Chiara, Leandra and Margaret. Everyone is too disposable just like the models now.
 
And in today's episode of random, Amanda Seyfried got embroiled in some influencer drama.....

The Biggest Influencer Controversies of 2019 — So Far

The influencer wars have begun, with the stakes higher than ever. The biggest insult? To be dubbed "aspiring."

By Layla Ilchi on July 12, 2019

Hair vitamins, defective lipstick, body shaming and a bribery scandal.

These are just some of the catalysts behind 2019’s biggest influencer controversies that have captivated millions of followers on social media, launching a number of think pieces on “cancel culture,” the limits of sponsored content and society’s overall fascination with influencers and social media.

From Olivia Jade’s involvement in the college admissions scandal to a feud between Something Navy blogger and designer, Arielle Charnas, and actress Amanda Seyfriend, here is a breakdown of all the influencer drama so far this year.


Olivia Jade – March 2019



While Olivia Jade Giannulli — known on the Internet as just Olivia Jade — was already a well-known influencer with 1.3 million followers on Instagram, she was catapulted into the spotlight thanks to her famous parents, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli and “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin, who were charged in the now infamous college admissions scandal, where more than 40 adults allegedly used bribes to get their children admitted to elite colleges

Jade’s parents are charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and honest services fraud and money laundering for spending roughly $500,000 in bribes to get her and her older sister, Isabella Rose Giannulli, admitted to the University of Southern California. They pled not guilty in April to the charges, but face a maximum of 40 years in prison each if found guilty.

It is unclear if Jade was aware of the alleged bribery before the news broke, however she has experienced a number of setbacks to her influencer career because of the scandal. Many fashion and beauty brands have dropped their influencer partnerships with Jade, including Sephora — which collaborated with Jade on a now-discontinued highlighter paletteThe Estée Lauder Cos. and Australian retailer Princess Polly, among others.

Undeterred by her parents’ legal drama, Jade is still planning her comeback by successfully reapplying her trademark for a namesake beauty line. However, she has made no comments on the brand or returned to her social media accounts since the scandal broke.

Giannulli and Loughlin’s cases are still ongoing, with their next court appearance slated for Oct. 2.

James Charles and Tati Westbrook – May 2019

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James Charles and Tati Westbrook REX/Shutterstock and Tati Westbrook

James Charles and Tati Westbrook had one of the most explosive, and public, feuds of the year, all because of hair vitamins. During the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Charles posted an Instagram Story promoting beauty ingestible brand, SugarBearHair, which is a direct competitor to Westbrook’s own brand, Halo Beauty.

After Westbrook posted content on Instagram Stories saying that she felt betrayed by an unnamed friend, she posted a now-deleted, 43-minute YouTube video on May 10 expressing her disappointment in Charles. “Fame, power and a fat bank account will change almost anyone, and if you don’t have people who will tell you to your face that you’re doing the wrong things, then you will change,” she said. “I tried to be that person for you James, I really tried. I don’t think there’s any getting through to you and I don’t want to be friends with you. I don’t want to be associated with you and I need to say that very publicly so that this chapter can be closed.”

She also stated that the feud isn’t just about his promotion of SugarBearHair and accuses him of regularly acting as a bully toward other influencers and sexually harassing men.

Charles replied by posting a short video apology on his own YouTube channel the next day — where he said he only posted the SugarBearHair Instagram Story because the brand’s security helped him when the crowd at Coachella became unsafe — however the damage was relatively already done. According to a live tally video streamed by YouTube account, Tea4Real, Charles lost roughly 3 million YouTube subscribers, while Westbrook gained about 4 million fans. Since the feud has subsided, as of July Charles has regained most of his lost follower count, reaching 15.7 million, and Westbrook’s follower count has fluctuated, decreasing to 9.9 million as opposed to the 10.5 million she previously had at the height of the feud in May 2019.

Other big influencers got in on the drama, too, including Jeffree Star, who also accused Charles of acting inappropriately toward his boyfriend and called Charles a “danger to society” in a since-deleted tweet, and Nikita Dragun, who posted screenshots of her text conversation with Charles during Coachella, which show Charles asking Dragun to connect him with SugarBearHair because he was “getting attacked” in the festival’s VIP area. The screenshots were presented as proof that Charles didn’t have any prior plans to work with Westbrook’s competitor and didn’t have any malicious intent toward Westbrook with his sponsored post.



After more videos and other influencers offered their two cents on the squabble, Westbrook posted to her Instagram Stories stating that she had been in communication with Charles through an intermediary and asked that her viewers and community “put this matter to rest.”

While neither influencer commented on the feud or their meetings after Westbrook’s last post on the matter, both went back to their regularly scheduled programming as of June, posting makeup tutorials on their respective YouTube channels.

WWD
 
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Jaclyn Hill – June 2019

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Jaclyn Hill Jillian Sollazzo

One of the year’s most highly anticipated makeup launches was Jaclyn Cosmetics, the namesake line from beauty influencer Jaclyn Hill. Despite her large and dedicated fan base with nearly 6 million subscribers, Hill’s line of 20 nude lipsticks was been met with controversy and allegations of contamination.

Shortly after the brand launched at the end of May, customers took to social media to share pictures of their Jaclyn Cosmetics lipsticks, many of which appeared to have tiny hairs, holes and round particles attached to the bullets.

View image on Twitter


Scores of fans cried out on Twitter, calling out Hill for the poor product quality, some even claiming that the defective products contained mold. The brand responded to the allegations on Twitter, explaining that the irregularities were either caused by exposure to high temperatures or because the products weren’t blended adequately. The company made a point of saying that only 0.1 percent of customers were experiencing these defects. The brand asked for customers with defective products to contact them for a refund.

The drama then escalated in a matter of days as other influencers began calling out Hill for the products, including @RawBeautyKristi, who posted a 52-minute video that had her using a microscope to give viewers a close up look at the lipsticks to reveal holes and hairs on the bullets, and Marlena Stell, founder of Makeup Geek Cosmetics, who posted an hour-and-a-half-long video to her YouTube channel calling Hill dishonest for her lack of transparency regarding the defective products.

In the video, Stell revealed that a few years ago she was using the same cosmetics lab that Hill was working with to formulate her lipsticks. Stell said that the products the lab created for her also had similar defects to what Hill’s lipsticks currently have, and she ultimately decided to switch labs before launching the product for Makeup Geek Cosmetics. It is unclear if Hill stayed with the lab to launch the brand.

On June 22, the brand posted on Twitter that it would be refunding all of its customers, stating: “Jaclyn Cosmetics takes consumer feedback very seriously. We’ve reviewed the quality issues related to our So Rich Lipsticks and believe our production did not meet our brand standards. We’ll be issuing a full refund [including] shipping charges to everyone who purchased the product.”

Hill has since deleted all of her social media accounts, except for YouTube, and has not commented further what the future of the brand is.

Marissa Fuchs (aka The Fashion Ambitionist) – June 2019



Marissa Fuchs, the director of brand partnerships at Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop and the blogger behind @fashionambitionist, set Instagram into a frenzy during a quiet weekend in June when her now-husband, Gabriel Grossman, launched a viral and international scavenger hunt in order to propose and marry her all within the span of four days.

Fuchs painstakingly documented every step of the scavenger hunt on Instagram, posting more than 300 Instagram Stories over the weekend from locations like New York City, the Hamptons, Miami and Paris.

The elaborate proposal — complete with products and mentions of a number of fashion brands, like LoveShackFancy, Ramy Brook and Tumi — had many speculating if the social media stunt was staged. A day after Fuchs began posting the scavenger hunt on Instagram, a pitch deck — usually used for advertising campaigns and to pull in revenue for various business opportunities — surfaced online, detailing the itinerary for each location with scheduled times for Fuchs to post on Instagram. The pitch also outwardly requested for brands to “align with this momentous occasion” (meaning pay or offer free product for promotion) and stated that the proposal will come to life “with the help of Marissa’s most beloved brands.” It was reported that the pitch deck was shown to brands prior to the scavenger hunt, likely in the hopes of securing sponsorships for the public display of love gone viral.

While many were enthralled with the jet-setting proposal, according to a source, Fuchs’ employer, Goop, wasn’t pleased. A source close to Goop told WWD that company leadership had no prior knowledge of the social media stunt and had no involvement in orchestrating the proposal. They were also surprised by Fuchs’ extensive branding effort.

During the scavenger hunt, Fuchs removed her job title from her Instagram bio, replacing it with the hashtag #WhereIsGabe. According to the Daily Mail on July 3, Goop has launched an internal review on how the proposal was put together. Goop’s senior vice president of communications, Noora Raj Brown, stated: “While we’re happy for Marissa, the proposal is only associated with her personal brand and entirely separate from Goop.” She went on to state Fuchs did not receive formal approval for the social media stunt.

Fuchs has been silent on her social media channels since her last post from the scavenger hunt in June. Her title at Goop is still listed on her LinkedIn page.

WWD/Twitter
 
I don't know what to make of Instagram's decision to get rid of likes soon when it comes to the fashion industry. Has BoF written a piece on it yet? One thing's for sure: brands have to start investing in some "real" ads now instead of relying on an influencer's questionable engagements. :lol:
 
It's been interesting to see the shift from 'blogger' to 'influencer' happen, at this point we need to basically accept that the independent fashion bloggers were once wonderful, but now they've gone the way of street style pictures of non-fashion people. A small handful, like Kingdom of Style, still try for editorial integrity and don't just post for the $$$ but they are a vanishing breed. And writers are not exactly going to find picture-focused ig the most conducive of places to host a longer piece.
 

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