The fashion industry has changed forever. Here’s why you should care:
If you had the opportunity to attend a fashion week show prior to 2016, you’d have seen a sea of celebrities, photogs, and fashion editors. Brands wanted their front rows absolutely squished with the name power of people like Alexa Chung, Anna Wintour, Rihanna, and Sarah Jessica Parker.
These days there’s a new breed of front-row royalty, and you probably follow them on Instagram.
In the beginning, there were Kardashians.
We all know the Kardashian name. Some of us love it; others roll their eyes at the very mention of a “Lip Kit.” But we all recognize its influence.
Allow me to bring something to your attention. In November 2016, not long after Kyle Cosmetics came to fruition, the influencer with an infamous pout launched a holiday collection. Those lip products sold $19 million in the first day. NINETEEN. Wanna know what I was doing on November 21 when that launched? Stuffing my face with tacos. No, really – I checked my camera roll. And yes, they were delish.
A new age in consumer markets
The “influencer economy” encompasses much more than the Kardashian empire. Lesser known names are disrupting fashion, beauty, music, video, dance choreography scenes. I don’t care what niche you follow – there is someone who operates as an influencer in that industry.
We live in a world where social media has normalized the idea of having millions of followers.
Let’s strip that down for a bit. When you were in first grade, 1 million was, like, the biggest number that existed. It was overwhelming and impossible to visualize. Now, open up your phone. Navigate to Instagram. It will take you approximately 30 seconds to land on at least five accounts with over 1 million followers. In fact, social media followings are so saturated these days that I view an account with 50,000 followers as not very impressive. Like, WHAT?!?
Follow counts aren’t just arbitrary numbers that make people feel popular anymore. They are the means by which industries are shifting and becoming even more consumer-focused. The democratization of consumption is upon us, and its all thanks to our likes and re-tweets.
New business models
Take Arielle Charnas, of Something Navy. She was one of the first fashion bloggers to make it big with her authentic and relatable approach to styling (and now motherhood, too!). With over 1.2 million followers on her personal account, Charnas has managed to leverage her following in order to create a full-scope lifestyle and media brand.
At a not-too-shabby following of 263k, the Something Navy Instagram account now tantalizes its community with behind-the-scenes looks into everything from producing new content for their media site to the designing of a Ready to Wear collection launching in April 2020. This all stems from the uber-successful partnership Charnas has had over the past year and a half at Nordstrom. After her final connection’s launch with the department store earlier this month, Charnas is moving away from the partnership business model we’ve previously seen in the influencer economy. And if the $10 million she raised for the launch of this new brand is any indication, I think we’re in for something ground-breaking.
But Charnas is not the only Instagram influencer redefining the market. Some influencers are straying away from creating material items altogether. Danielle Bernstein of WeWoreWhat, having already moved into the design space with the launch of her swimwear and overall collections, launched MOE Assist in October of this year. It’s a tech start-up that helps streamline an industry that has previously operated with little formal structure. What industry is that? The influencer economy, of course. This entrepreneur’s movement into tech marks a fairly logical progression for an industry that emerged because of new media and technology.
Influencers are also creating platforms that can be used daily by people like you and me. Creative city-dweller, Tezza, launched her vintage film inspired photo-editing app last year which is now loved by thousands (myself included). Another O.G. influencer, Zoe Sugg of the Youtube channel Zoella, moved into the tech space by launching Filmm, another photo-editing app which promotes the advancement of online sharing.
The future lies ahead
There has been a shift in power within consumer markets. It is firmly accepted that influencers offer brands a direct-to-consumer marketing model, but this industry is much more than digitized billboard advertisements. Influencers are finding new and creative ways to disrupt markets in their own entrepreneurial pursuits.
Featured images c/o: @allegrashaw | @weworewhat | @tezza