Screenshot of BoF in 2007 | Source: BoF

LONDON, United Kingdom — This week marks a very special milestone in the history of The Business of Fashion: our 5th birthday!

Back in January 2007, I spent one hundred dollars for an annual Typepad subscription and, with the help of a friend, set up a blog at uberkid.typepad.com. I called it The Business of Fashion, cobbled together a clumsy looking header in Powerpoint and started jotting down ideas and observations about the fashion business.

There was no plan! Looking back, it’s a little cringeworthy to see how the blog shifted haphazardly from one subject to the next: reviewing the Milan menswear shows in one post, covering a Giles Deacon party in the next, analysing the luxury childrenswear market and reporting on senior executive shuffles at the Gap, all within the very first month and without any real editorial direction or strategy!

But we’ve come a long way since then and I’ve also learned a great deal about digital publishing. A few of the media properties that I most respect, including The Atlantic and The Guardian, have been buzzing about their “digital first” strategies. But BoF was born digital from day one, which has enabled us to take a particularly lean and responsive approach to publishing.

Indeed, one of the great strengths of digital – an inherently conversational medium – lies in the on-going dialogue it enables between content creators and the communities they attract. Rather than simply broadcasting to a passive audience, BoF has slowly but surely shaped an editorial voice that reflects the feedback and interests of our growing community of readers.

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LONDON, United Kingdom — As we enter the dog days of August, The Business of Fashion is going to take a holiday. But before we take our little sabbatical, we have a request for you, our loyal readers.

We were delighted to learn last week that BoF has been shortlisted for the first Dazed Digital RAW Blog Awards, in the fashion category. The awards have now been opened to a public vote — and the competition is fierce. We are honoured to share the nomination with several other excellent fashion blogs, including Jak & Jil, DisneyRollerGirl, and our friends over at the Fashion156 daily blog.

Everyday, thousands and thousands of you around the world log in to www.businessoffashion.com or enjoy our BoF Daily Newsletter on your Blackberries, iPhones and laptops as a free tool for research, intelligence and inspiration in your day to day work in the fashion business. Today, we are counting on you to click here and scroll down to find our BoF logo and vote for The Business of Fashion!

VOTE FOR BoF IN THE DAZED DIGITAL RAW BLOG AWARDS

Share the link with your friends on Facebook, Tweet it to the world and help us win. From all of us at BoF, thank you!

The Business of Fashion in Vogue Korea, May 2008

LONDON, United Kingdom — It’s been awhile since our last BoF update. The past few months have been busy on our end, so forgive us for a solely BoF-focused post to keep you abreast of all the developments on our side in recent months, and to share a little about things to come in the months to come.

We are dot-com: Probably the most noticeable change since our redesign in December is our new domain name: www.businessoffashion.com. That’s right, we managed to secure the dot-com for Business of Fashion despite the fact that some Indian cybersquatters first offered it to us for almost one thousand dollars and then told us they sold it to someone else in the meanwhile. But, in an amazing and mysterious twist of fate, our Managing Editor, Khaleed Juma, happened to find the domain for sale on the Internet for the grand total of $9.99! So, we welcome you to our official dot-com status and invite you to update your links and bookmarks to find us as quickly as possible.

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LONDON, United Kingdom - As we wind down our second year here on The Business of Fashion, I thought it would be interesting take a look back at our most popular articles from the last 12 months in what was quite the eventful year, not only for the Luxury industry, but for the economy as a whole.

With more than 200 posts over the course of 2008, we had much to sort through and have chosen these posts based on the highest number of page views. This resulted in a wide cross-section of articles, from posts that are part of ongoing series like Fashion 2.0, Luxury Outlook and CEO Talk, to others from our travels to Japan and conversations with industry experts.

The drumroll please…

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Anna E Alex, Jewellery designers, Italy

NAIROBI, Kenya - The best thing about Christmas in the fashion business is that all of the creativity that is usually focused on clothes and campaigns is temporarily fixated on the festive season. In the beginning of an annual tradition here on the BoF, we are delighted to share a selection of some of the most creative Christmas cards and holiday greetings that we have received from around the world.

And, to keep you occupied between dinners and decorating, we will continue posting from time to time over the break, including a 2008 Year in Review.

From all of us at BoF, happy holidays to everyone.

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