Tavi Gevinson | Source: Style Rookie

NEW YORK, United States — Ever since the dynamic and erudite young fashion blogger Tavi appeared at the runway shows in New York this past September, the fashion industry has partaken in a veritable social media orgy. Article after article rightfully declared the 13 year-old blogger and her talented fashion blogger brothers and sisters — BryanBoy, Susie Bubble and others — the new fashion stars.

During New York Fashion Week in September, The New York Times Technology section exclaimed: “Young bloggers Have Ear of Fashion Heavyweights.” Then, Women’s Wear Daily declared: “Everyone’s doing it: Brands take on Social Media,” and followed with  “Bricks Versus Clicks: Front Row at D&G,” ranking the front row presence of bloggers at D&G in Milan as a “Defining Moment” of the Spring/Summer 2010 collections.

But it didn’t there. The Independent in London showcased the “New Kids on the Blog,” Metro News in Toronto said “Style bloggers bring fashion to the masses,” the Irish Independent said fashion blogs are “Writing with Style,” the Financial Times revealed that “Style bloggers take centre stage” and the International Herald Tribune chimed in, saying that we are moving “From Couture — to Conversation.”

And while nothing delights us more than to see bloggers finally getting the attention and respect they deserve, the time has come for a bit of a social media reality check.

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Gucci Eyeweb versus Burberry Art of the Trench | Source: InFashionMedia

LONDON, United Kingdom — In recent weeks, two major luxury fashion brands have taken the plunge and launched social networks built around their brands and products. It’s not a new idea by any means, and indeed I wrote a piece on this very idea for the Financial Times almost two years ago. But, that doesn’t make it any less notable because, as far as I can tell, it is the first time top fashion brands have used social media in this way. Indeed, both Gucci and Burberry went to great efforts to highlight these initiatives at last week’s IHT Techno Luxury conference in Berlin.

So, have their experiments been successful? Of course we at the BoF have our own opinions, but in the spirit of democracy we thought it was the perfect opportunity to turn to the BoF community to see what you think. In our first ever BoF Twitter Poll, we asked:

BoF Twitter Poll: What do you think of Gucci Eye Web versus Burberry’s Art of the Trench?

The responses came in fast and furious from BoF’s followers around the world, including James Gardner, CEO of the industry’s leading creative agency CreateThe Group, and influential bloggers such as Bryanboy and DisneyRollerGirl. In the end, it was a no-contest knockout for Burberry which was unanimously selected as the winner.

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