“I feel like they’re adding a real dose of freshness and reality to the fashion world online.”

Rumi Neely of Fashion Toast, amongst several other bloggers, speaking to Net-a-Porter TV as part of Net-a-Porter’s special bloggers issue, which includes their first ever Blog Power List, ranking Tommy Ton at Number 1, Susie Bubble at Number 5, and The Business of Fashion at Number 7.

Tina Craig and Kelly Cook of Bag Snob | Source: Bag Snob

DALLAS, United States — When Kelly Cook and Tina Craig discovered their shared passion for handbags as business undergraduates at the University of Southern California, it was the beginning of a journey which led them to create one of the most compelling businesses BoF has come across in our popular series profiling the fashion blogosphere’s superstars.

“We’ve had this ongoing conversation about bags since college, and when we moved far from each other, we thought it would be fun to keep a journal of our mutual bag obsession,” says Craig of the idea for communicating through their highly influential blog, Bag Snob. “It was never meant to be anything more than amusement for each other,” explains Craig, echoing what so many of the best bloggers say: that they started their blogs out of pure passion.

From those humble beginnings in the summer of 2005, Bag Snob has quickly grown into a bonafide business with more than 250,000 unique visitors across six different web properties covering apparel, beauty, jewelry, children’s clothing, and most recently, shoes. The business has fifteen different income streams which deliver revenues in the mid six figures — much of that heading straight to the bottom line due to the very low cost base of operating what is largely a virtual business with little in the way of physical infrastructure and fixed costs.

Craig explains that after setting up the blog it was instantly clear that they were on to something. “We started Bag Snob with literally $20. Within half a year, we realised a 6-figure income was plausible and our business backgrounds kicked into gear,” she recalls. “We incorporated Bag Snob LLC and registered Bag Snob as a trademark with the money we earned and still have not put in another cent into the company.”

So how did they make this happen?

The magic of Bag Snob lies in offering analytical advice, as opposed to simply reproducing the endless press releases that are blasted to bloggers en masse by PRs looking to push product. Craig and Cook have honed a simple but powerful formula for dissecting every possible variable around a handbag to create trusted, no holds barred reviews that help their readers to make purchasing decisions.  Bag Snob reviews often spark lively conversations amongst their loyal readership.

Of course, this kind of editorial content is also powerful as a commercial tool. Many of the photos of handbags on Bag Snob are linked to retailers where featured products can be purchased instantly. 60 percent of Snob Media’s revenue comes from commissions collected when readers click over to any one of more than 40 online affiliate partners — including Barneys, Topshop, Nordstrom and Browns Fashion — and make a purchase. Affiliate commissions are generally applied to any purchase made within 30 days, not just those of the products that may have led the reader there in the first place.

By far, Bag Snob’s most successful partnership has been with pioneering online retailer Net-a-Porter. “Last year our sales for Net-a-Porter were in the high six figures, though we are not at liberty to say what our terms and percentages are,” says Cook. “ShopBop is our second biggest affiliate partner.”

Affiliate partnerships continue to grow in importance as retailers like Net-a-Porter look to harvest consumer desire created by blogs and independent websites. Standard affiliate commissions range between 5 and 15 percent of a product’s retail price. “Each program is different and the terms are negotiable; since our conversion rates are really high we are able to get better percentages,” says Craig.

But while Cook and Craig often wax poetic about handbags and keep close relationships with their affiliate partners, they are not afraid to critique bags as well. “It makes no sense to try to tailor your content to fit with affiliate partners,” advises Craig. “That would be the beginning of the end.”

In a recent post in their On the Rag series, Cook took a Roberto Cavalli bag stocked at Net-a-Porter to task. “Unless you’re a mummy, you’re going to look ridiculous,” she wrote. “This bag looks so dusty and dingy, I want to shake all the junk off of it. Even the shoulder strap has fringe, so you look like you’re sporting some sort of sad, mop-like cape when you carry it. The gray hue looks more like a filthy white, so it just adds to the macabre effect of this ghostly, ghastly creation.”

Interestingly, the Roberto Cavalli bag appears to have sold out as it is now listed as “no longer available” on the Net-a-Porter website.

Still, the honest approach doesn’t always come without its own problems. “We’ve been ‘chastised’ by various retailers and PR people for negative reviews but that has not deterred us. Providing good content is our priority and readers who’ve been with us for 6 years know this,” Craig points out when asked how they maintain the balance between earning commissions and maintaining editorial integrity. “Our readers buy everything from $2,000 trendy bags to $30,000 investment crocodile bags based purely on our recommendation. They wouldn’t do so if they didn’t trust our reviews.”

But there are other revenue streams as well. Income from ads, sponsorship and ad networks make another 35 percent of sales. Consultancy and sponsorships bring in five percent of sales and are bound to grow following the announcement last week of a collaboration between Bag Snob and DKNY.

“We approached DKNY with the idea of designing a tightly edited line of bags,” says Craig. “We came up with the Five Essentials after studying how our friends and readers were shopping. We wanted to help women collect snob-worthy bag wardrobes without wasting their money on endless parades of black totes and trendy bags. They loved the idea and we agreed on a flat design consultancy fee.”

These kinds of collaborations loom large in Bag Snob’s future. “Without a bag-buying strategy, you end up with a collection of bags you never carry and one that gets worn to death, says Craig. “We would love to get into product. We have spent so much time analysing, we feel we are in the position to contribute some of that knowledge to products that fit with all the standards we use when reviewing.”

And, like all great collaborations, Craig and Cook also learned from the experience, extracting value above and beyond the consultancy fees. “This has been an incredibly humbling experience and we learned so much about designing and production of bags. I think it has made us better bag reviewers, as well. If we are given the opportunity to do more collaborations, it would be amazing.”

As they look to the future, and their business continues to grow, the one thing that will always remain at the core of the Bag Snob strategy is unbridled passion for fashion products. “We all are more professional and organized now, but the passion is still the same and you can’t feign that,” says Craig. “As we always say, if it doesn’t make you crazy like teenage love, don’t blog about it.”

Imran Amed is Founder and Editor of The Business of Fashion

The Business of Blogging is a new series on the rarely discussed business side of fashion blogging. Previous articles are listed below:

Susanna Lau | Source: Citizen Couture

Today, BoF launches The Business of Blogging, a new series on the rarely discussed business side of fashion blogging. First up is Susanna Lau of Style Bubble, one of the fashion blogosphere’s most original and influential voices.

LONDON, United Kingdom — In recent years, bloggers have had a tremendous impact on the fashion community. Using the internet to build their own platforms and attract an audience, they have helped turn a once closed industry into a more dynamic and democratic global conversation, earning thousands of fans and followers in the process. But are they making money? Have they been able to successfully monetise their celebrity and their craft? Is blogging a viable business?

“In my second year at Dazed, I was turning down all these different projects that could have been money spinners and I just couldn’t commit myself to them, because I was working 12 hours a day,” says Susanna Lau, the candid and adorably quirky voice behind the highly popular personal fashion blog Style Bubble, who left her position as Commissioning Editor of DazedDigital.com in March of 2010 to concentrate on her blog and pursue the unexploited economic opportunities it was generating. “Saying ‘I don’t need the publication to anchor onto, I have a publication essentially,’ was a big thing for me,” admits Ms. Lau, whose blog currently attracts some 25,000 visitors each day.

But how exactly has Ms. Lau been able to monetise her platform? “I have advert space at the side of my blog, but it’s not a big money spinner,” she says. “How I’ve done it is working on projects that relate to the blog but aren’t necessarily always visible on the blog.”

For example, Ms. Lau was one of a handful of influential celebrities and bloggers who recently helped internet giant Google launch fashion search and personal recommendations site Boutiques.com for what was widely reported to be a one-off payment in the low five figures. “The deal was to set up a boutique like the other celebrities who were also enlisted to pick items and basically put their taste out there,” she explains. “I got a fee for setting up an account, curating a shop and picking a certain amount of items.”

Ms. Lau was also recently tapped by American retailer Gap to appear in their 2010 holiday campaign shot by Craig McDean and styled by Karl Templer. “There was a fee,” she said. “You are basically lending your image and compensated much like any model or celebrity who gets a campaign,” she continues. “It’s always one-off fees.”

“Blogging is rich with indirect opportunities, in which their presentation is commensurate with your dedication, perspective and uniqueness,” noted business strategist, sociologist, and futurist Brian Solis in a recent post on Technorati’s latest “State of the Blogosphere” study.

But what exactly is Susie Bubble selling? “It’s intangible,” she admitted. “My eye, my point of view, a certain taste, a certain way of documenting and presenting fashion; that’s supposedly what I’m selling.”

Ms. Lau also generates revenue from occasional consulting work, writing assignments and speaking engagements, but it’s fees from special projects for brands that constitute the majority of her income. “The consulting part is really small,” she said. “Ad revenue is 25 percent. Freelance writing is 10 percent. The rest of it is based on special projects that I do.”

With recent projects for Dr. Martens, Giorgio Armani, Selfridges and Hong Kong boutique Joyce, Ms. Lau appears to be extremely busy. “There are limitless opportunities; it’s been sort of nonstop,” she enthuses. But what’s the bottom line? Compared to her previous position at Dazed Digital, is there more financial opportunity in the route Ms. Lau has chosen? “Definitely,” she emphasises. “Each day I’m sort of dividing my time between four or five different things. The result of that is that you are gong to be getting more money than you are with a fixed wage at an independent publishing company.”

But with expanding economic opportunities, bloggers have come under fire for not being transparent about the role their blogs play in commercial projects for which they are compensated, prompting government regulators at the Federal Trade Commission in the United States to introduce rules requiring bloggers to disclose ties to companies whose products they review or promote or face fines. While these rules are ambiguous, probably unenforceable and do not directly impact Ms. Lau, who resides in the UK, they prompt an important question: what role does Style Bubble play in her commercial projects and how does she manage to balance her economic interests with her editorial integrity?

“They didn’t say you have to publicise it,” said Ms. Lau in reference to the Google Boutiques project. “It’s normally a sort of unwritten thing. There are no instances where I feel I am contractually obliged to write about something.” In this regard, the Gap campaign was similar. “I wasn’t obliged to write about it… but in return, they were almost automatically expecting you to write about it because it’s something you would be proud of.”

In the end, Ms. Lau published Style Bubble posts on both the Gap and Google projects. Neither was overly promotional, but adopted the authentic Susie Bubble tone the brands undoubtedly knew would resonate best with her readership.

“I’ve not done advertorial,” she underscored. “I’ve not had any instance where what I put out on the blog is of primary importance to the project. It’s secondary and supporting, but it’s never been imposed on me that I have to do it.” She asserts: “If I was contractually obliged to write about something, I would feel less inclined.”

As blogging matures and the financial opportunities become more clear, many bloggers are starting to work with agents or other professional advisors who guide them on business decisions. “I make all the decisions myself, but with money, because I’m not very good with doing it, I have a literary agent,” explains Ms. Lau, who is exploring a possible book deal. “She managed Cecelia Ahern, who wrote P.S. I Love You, which was a huge success. She’s sort of looking over everything that I do; with major projects like the Gap campaign, she looks over the contracts and makes sure everything is above boards.”

But while Susie Bubble has proven that a highly popular fashion blogger can generate income in the present, is blogging a financially viable career option over the long-term? Will Susanna Lau always be Susie Bubble? “For the foreseeable future, yes,” she said. “It is a viable career, but I’ve always questioned the longevity of fashion blogs,” she adds, pragmatically. “Brands latching onto bloggers — is it just a trend?”

Here, Ms. Lau appears to enjoy a significant first mover advantage. “The fortunate and unfortunate thing is the media seems to latch on to the same bloggers over and over again,” she observes. “I was talking to a guy from Refinery29 who said: ‘The queen bees have already been chosen. The new ones are too late’, but I don’t want to believe that.”

In a recent short film for Intel’s “Visual Life” campaign, Scott Schuman of the highly popular street style blog “The Sartorialist” says he expects to be shooting and blogging for the next “30 to 40 years.” But for Susie Bubble, whose tastemaking skills are more intangible, things are more complex. “What I’m about is not as simple as Scott — he’s a photographer, he’s got a skill set to sell to brands,” she observed. “People like The Sartorialist, Garance [Doré], Tommy [of Jak and Jil] will have real endurance because they will always have their skill, whereas people can emulate what I do well.”

However, as Style Bubble continues to grow and the number of commercial opportunities multiply, Ms. Lau has been thinking about how to better organise and structure her expanding personal enterprise for the future. “I have been thinking I should register Style Bubble as a company, just for tax reasons,” she said. “If I were to present a business plan, if I were to be applying to a bank to get a loan to do something, to get my own space or invest in staff, then I have to present what I do as a tangible thing.”

But here, Ms. Lau is of two minds. While she said that “every major [television] channel has approached me about doing something,” the very ethos of a personal style blog like Style Bubble may inherently limit future growth. “If there was a whole team behind it, I think something would be taken away,” she said. “I’m not outputting solutions, I’m outputting myself,” she says. “I don’t think it can be larger than me — it’s as large as I am.”

Vikram Alexei Kansara is Managing Editor of The Business of Fashion

The Bay’s Bonnie Brooks’ lifelong ‘quest to be the best’ (Globe and Mail)
“Ms. Brooks is used to thinking big.  [At Lane Crawford], she used some of the same tactics that she’s applying at the Bay to turn it around: introducing an array of with-it brands, ditching old ones and putting a spotlight on high-margin shoes and handbags.“

How luxury brands can tap the blogosphere’s growing influence (Luxury Daily)
“Consumers trust blogs more compared to traditional media than they did five years ago. Brands should actively look for ways to generate positive press by developing relationships with prominent industry bloggers.”

Hermès needs to style media defense to unsaddle LVMH (Reuters)
“Winning the media war against luxury giant LVMH which began in earnest this week is likely Hermès’ only realistic chance of shaking off its unwelcome new shareholder.”

Adidas Aims to Increase Sales 50% to 17 Billion Euros by 2015 (Bloomberg)
“Adidas… aims to increase sales as much as 50 percent by 2015, CEO Herbert Hainer said. Revenue will rise to 17 billion euros ($23.7 billion) by the target date, increasing annually by an average of 15 percent.”

Kenzo celebrates 40 years (Telegraph)
“When Takada, the irrepressible, Japanese designer set up shop in Paris’s rue Vivienne, in 1970, he was part of a seemingly never-ending festival of fashion creativity that embodied youth, modernity, fun and freedom.”

Dior's Shanghai Dreamers | Source: antbazaar

Chinese people as identical Maoist robots? (Guardian)
“If fantasy is part of the appeal of fashion, then wouldn’t it be worthwhile for Dior, Chanel, and other couture houses to figure out how Chinese people fantasise and see themselves?”

Marketing’s New Rage: Brands Sponsoring Influential Bloggers (WWD)
“Forget about just display ads. Increasingly, the future of advertising online seems to be through sponsorships, contests, giveaways, product placement, widgets and games — often with bloggers.”

How CEOs Will Use Social Media in the Future (Mashable)
“Today’s CEO is not social… Very few of the CEOs at top companies in the U.S. and the rest of the world have any material presence on the popular social media sites… all signs are pointing to a future filed with CEOs who can speak the language of the people — social media.”

Ebay redoubles marketing efforts for fashion offering (Marketing)
“Since eBay launched its Fashion Outlet site in April, it has had 30 fashion retail brands, including Superdry, Karen Millen, Ted Baker and Office, join to sell their products through it.”

How the late Corinne Day changed my life (Telegraph)
“Her style of photography, and that British Vogue shoot in particular, kicked off the whole grunge movement in the ‘90s in a blaze of controversy. No discernible make-up, natural light, girls with flaws.. Her work was so unmistakably British and effortlessly cool.”

Street style featured on stylites.net | Source: Stylites

China’s Fashion Bloggers: Five to Watch (Jing Daily)
“In the US and the UK, fashion bloggers have long been considered ahead-of-the-curve influencers… With China’s growing appetite for luxury, there’s room for China’s fashion bloggers to gain industry traction as well.”

Frugality in Fashion Amid Economic Slump (WWD)
“Never before has it been so chic to be cheap. And the looming threat of a double-dip recession means consumers aren’t about to abandon that mind-set anytime soon, according to industry observers.”

All Hail the Humble Espadrille! (IHT)
“Today, the Castañer factory, founded in 1927, creates luxury, high-heeled espadrilles for 15 designer labels… one of several family-run Spanish shoemakers who are capitalizing on traditional craftsmanship to carve an international niche.”

Ugly Battle Brewing Over Fashion Week (WSJ)
“Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week could be burdened by a decidedly inelegant accessory during its inaugural run at Lincoln Center: a picket line… the union will hold an emergency board meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss its options..”

Vice Magazine’s Shane Smith Grows Up (Just Enough) (NY Times)
“To hard-partying urban readers, he is a voice of a generation of too-cool D.J.’s and artists who wear rolled selvedge jeans and chunky glasses. But he is also a conduit for corporate America to reach that elusive audience.”

Liz Claiborne | Source: Archive

Targeting Younger Buyers, Liz Claiborne Hits Snag (WSJ)
“In an effort to attract a younger audience, Mr. McComb decided to focus on the company’s contemporary brands with the most potential… But he made a series of strategic blunders… The decision to realign the company’s portfolio ‘was a disaster waiting to happen’.”

Fashion Tries on Zero Waste Design (NY Times)
“Zero-waste design strives to create clothing patterns that leave not so much as a scrap of fabric on the cutting room floor. This is not some wacky avant-garde exercise; it’s a way to eliminate millions of tons of garbage a year.”

The Rise of The Blogger (Footwear News)
“Industry players said blogs have gained clout and relevance because they can post information about a company or show its product much faster than traditional media… The blogs also serve as marketing tools that can go beyond conventional advertising.”

Fashion Gets a Deserved Night Out (WSJ)
“Though the evening is devoted to commerce, it is balanced with an artistic side. A glance at the event’s website, Fashionsnightout.com, which launches Monday, reveals that brands across the spectrum… are exploring the interplay between fashion and the arts.”

Missoni: a family always in fashion (Guardian)
The Missonis have survived the years intact, with no scandals, shootings or skeletons falling out of the cupboard. And they remain in control, having resisted buyouts… As Angela says: ‘… To my mother that was the most important achievement. Family harmony was always her goal.’”

Digital IQ Ranking 2009 | Source: LuxuryLab

NEW YORK, United States — In the first-ever ‘Digital IQ’ ranking of the top luxury fashion brands’ digital competence, Louis Vuitton has come out on top, followed closely by Ralph Lauren. Both are ranked as ‘genius’ in the wide-ranging qualitative and quantitative study which covers 109 brands across the luxury spectrum, not just fashion. The study was authored by Scott Galloway, Clinical Associate Professor at NYU’s Stern School and Founder of LuxuryLab, a thinktank with a focus on luxury and new media.

“2009 represented a tipping point concerning the importance of digital competence in the luxury industry,” says Galloway. “While the industry grappled with double-digit revenue declines, traffic to luxury brand sites increased an average of 61 percent. With this study, we’ve devised a metric these companies can use to benchmark specific features of their digital competence against their competitors, and highlight which area each firm stands to gain the greatest return on incremental investment in digital.”

To savvy BoF readers who have been reading about Fashion 2.0 for more than two years now, some of these rankings may seem overly generous. Sure, Prada put out that amazing Trembled Blossoms film and Dolce & Gabbana might get some extra bonus points for putting Bryanboy, Tommy Ton, Garance Doré and Scott Schuman in the front row in Milan yesterday, but do these brands really have a ‘gifted’ internet competence? (Note: The Digital IQ ranking was completed long before last night’s blogger frenzy in Milan!)

Even then, taken at face value, the ranking would still suggest that fashion brands, the heretofore undisputed masters of image creation and marketing sophistication, are failing to harness the real potential of social media, clumped together as they are towards the middle of the overall ranking.

There are only two fashion brands in the top ten, Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren, ranked #6 and #7, respectively. Before them, consumer electronics naturally makes a strong showing with Apple at #1 and Sony at #3, but should the top fashion brands really be satisfied in being judged less competent in internet communication than BMW at #2, Audi at #4 and Porsche at #5? These companies can’t even sell their products online. Then again, many fashion brands, including Chanel (ranked ‘average’) and Marc Jacobs (ranked ‘challenged’) still don’t sell their own products on their own websites, even though they clearly could.

Yesterday’s Women’s Wear Daily carried an excellent survey of the state of social media in fashion today and an in-depth look into the Digital IQ survey, calling 2009 “the year of social media” and outlining the online fashion stampede to setup i-Phone apps, social media sites and Facebook pages, amongst other things. But I couldn’t help but thinking that part of the point is being lost in this social media frenzy. It’s kind of like Fashion’s Night Out. Everyone seems to be joining the party without really stopping to think about the what the overall opportunity offers.

First and foremost, social media is about listening to the conversations that consumers all over the internet are having about our brands. Indeed, in the social media age, our brands are increasingly defined by our consumers. Do you know what your consumers are saying about your brand? Regardless of whether you agree or not, you can be sure they will share it with hundreds of friends, contacts and strangers on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and hundreds of other sites that make the entire internet increasingly social.

Only once we have understood these two aspects of social media — listening and sharing — in addition to broadcasting, can we strategically engage in a dialogue to achieve our various business objectives to have the best products, the right customer service, the strongest brand image and plenty of profits. In short, social media is far more than a simple marketing tool. Indeed, it will continue to dramatically change the industry as we know it.

For those of you who are interested in continuing the conversation on social media, I invite you to attend the LuxuryLab Innovation Forum in New York on November 6th, for a one-day event to explore the rapidly changing luxury landscape. Amongst other things, the results of the Digital IQ index will be dissected in detail, and speakers including Tina Brown (Founder and Editor of the Daily Beast), Daniel Lalonde (CEO of Louis Vuitton North America) and Francois-Henri Bennahmias (President and CEO of Audemars Piguet North America) will share their ideas in high-velocity presentations modeled after the fabled TED conference.

BoF is pleased to be an official media partner of the event, and if all goes as planned, I will also have a chance to share my own thoughts with the expected audience of more than 300 luxury executives. You can register for the conference here.

Imran Amed is Founder and Editor of The Business of Fashion

First meeting of Polish fashion bloggers, Courtesy of Laska Wanilii

NEW YORK, United States — A few months ago, I commented on the patchy quality out there in the fashion blogosphere. Too many blogs, churning out too much of the same content, sometimes poorly written and failing to add anything new to the fashion conversation. Even the term ‘fashion blogger’ itself is somehow tainted, also bringing to mind the words ‘low quality’ and ‘poorly researched.’

Today, I came across a wonderful article which shows that some bloggers may be taking this to heart, banding together to form a sort of fashion bloggers’ guild. There’s an actors’ guild and there’s a bar for lawyers, and so the thinking goes, there could also be a group with a set of standards that helps to separate the good fashion blogger from the downright dodgy, unoriginal and plagiaristic.

Now, why didn’t I think of that?

“The Style Coalition will serve as an umbrella for a collection of blogs, like a more intimate version of Glam Media, a content network of more than 900 Web sites geared toward women and fashion,” reports the New York Observer. It will be a network “made by fashion bloggers for fashion bloggers,” says Michael Pratt, one of the project’s co-founders.

Of course, not everyone will agree with this kind of approach. The blogosphere, after all, prides itself on being a free market, where interest (traffic, links, comments) flows to the content that strikes up the most conversation. This, by the way, does not always mean quality blogs are getting the attention.

Having a guild won’t change that, of course. The rest of the blogosphere will continue unabated in its discussion of what rent-a-starlet Paris Hilton wore to the latest party. What may change is the ability for these guilded bloggers to identify themselves as professionals; ones who deserve to be invited to events and fashion shows and are treated more seriously as form of professional media.

“Most designers and publicists are still hesitant to grant pesky bloggers access because they’re worried Web writers will post inflammatory reviews or stir up a scene for some cheap Web traffic,” says the article. The Style Coalition aims to rise above this, creating “ethical and practical standards” that must be met in order to attain membership.

Another of the project’s key proponents is Yuli Ziv, a fashion blogger in her own right, but also someone with a bag full of ideas for how Style Coalition can grow. Amongst other things, she envisions creating a social media consulting firm and a dedicated space for bloggers at the Bryant Park tents.

The article doesn’t mention advertising, but I think Ms. Ziv should also add this to her list, if it’s not already in the works. This is one of the most sorely lacking services for high quality fashion blogs today, and such a guild might also help to fill this void.

That said, as with all good ideas, the ultimate success of this project will depend on the quality of execution — figuring out exactly how to make this work best in practice. The most difficult step may come in defining the standards and codes for the alliance, and figuring out how to monitor and measure adherance to these standards. It will not be easy to do without raising the hackles of the fashion blogosphere, a notoriously free space where enforcing any rules will be a formidable task indeed.

The best way, I think, would be by setting an example of the highest standard and offering a set of services so valuable that serious bloggers would have no other choice but to meet the same levels of professionalism, ethics and quality just to join.

Thank you to Laska Wanilii for the delightful photo from the first meeting of Polish fashion bloggers.

NEW YORK, United States – Can fashion bloggers be trusted online authorities?

As the ever-proliferating fashion blogosphere continues to expand, and more and more bloggers gain access to fashion week, it’s pretty clear that the answer is yes. The fashion blog is here to stay. But it’s also fair to wonder whether all of this new content actually adding anything new to the reams of content already out there.

This past Spring/Summer 2009 season saw the debut of Inside The Tents. Inspired by Web 2.0 initiatives such as SXSW (South by South West) and the liveblogging phenomenon from political conventions in this U.S. election year, ITT aggregated fashion bloggers on one site to share their collective experiences from the tents at Bryant Park, using Twitter, Flickr and video content.

“Bloggers and online journalists are often dismissed as lacking the skill and insight to cover the ‘haute’ concepts of fashion,” says ITT organizer Michael J. Pratt of MyItThings.com. “Yet, they [traditional media] find themselves adopting the same techniques, or trying to, because there is undeniable effectiveness in connecting with the millions of people who love fashion.” 

Fair enough. But, it’s not just about the medium; it’s also about the message.  A perusal of some of the aggregated content on ITT causes one to pause and ask: are these bloggers really offering any unique expertise or vantage point that adds to the fashion dialogue? Some (though not all) of these bloggers appear to be more focused on themselves and on the celebrities in the front row than on the fashions on the runway. Unique opinions are few and far between.

“An awful lot of people not only have an opinion about fashion, they also believe those opinions are worth broadcasting,” muses Pulitzer Prize winner Robin Givhan, The Washington Post’s fashion editor, in her 2007 Harper’s Bazaar article Everyone is a Fashion Critic. However Givhan hasn’t entirely dismissed fashion blogging phenomenon as a mere trend. To the contrary, she has embraced it by launching her own blog on the Post’s website. 

So, if well-known critics like Givhan and the New York Times’ Cathy Horyn are penning blogs (and thereby adopting technologies which were once the exclusive domain of independent publishers), then, more than ever before, fashion bloggers must offer unique perspectives and insights not available in the traditional media in order to attract and build a loyal following. Merely adding to the information overload is just noise.

It’s true that the Internet has allowed virtually anyone to become a ‘citizen journalist,’ enabling them to offer their opinions and advice to anyone within a clicking earshot. But that doesn’t mean people will want to listen.

With research contributed by Tu Tram Pham.