I’m at the point in my career where alot of people are watching me, following my work, watching what I do, what I’m up to next. I can’t really describe it as anything other than strange, I’ve built all of this - but now as I keep working, it’s evolving into something totally unexpected. I’m not a celebrity - but I certainly know some Fashion Bloggers who could be categorised in that way! Both Chiara Ferragni and Kristina Bazan have had paparazzi start to follow them while they have been in the US. Crazy huh? As you guys probably know, I have plenty of friends who are very well known bloggers - and often when I’m walking down the street with them, they’ll get stopped constantly. I’ve even seen someone cry with excitement over running into one of my blogger friends on the street! It’s totally surreal, because these girls are so normal - if there is such a thing. They’ve also had their bloggers around 5 years plus, so it’s not like some overnight thing - they’ve had to work for it consistently. That slow burn has been good because you can adapt to the changing ‘Professional Blogger’ environment as your reach and influence grows.
What does this mean for Fashion Bloggers in the future? Where is it heading? I can’t say really - there’s been articles out there talking about how Fashion Blogging is Dead - but it certainly doesn’t appear to be slowing down in that way. I really just think it’s that different bloggers tend to have less influence and new ones rise up in their place. I can see that the type of content these publishers put up has been evolving. When once upon a time, consistent inspiration posts and occasional outfits was enough - now we are seeing a little more lifestyle, a lot more editorial and of course advertorials, which is the way most influencers earn their money. The better you can tell the story of the experience, the more engaged people are to the content.
So once you’re super popular, what then? If you don’t continue to work for it, you can end up fading out. I’ve seen this happen… to bloggers people can hardly remember now because it’s the business of all the rest of them to stay up in your face. I’m happy that we are all now being considered professionals. There’s still a few complainers out there, who consider that earning money this way isn’t OK, expecting us to follow that grass roots path forever - but I feel like - if influencers are plain and open about the fact that this is business and work hard for that, the criticism should become less and lesser.
I often meet people who, when I tell them what I do - don’t really understand the actuality of my job. The way I explain it, what I have is like an online magazine - where I’m the model, editor, writer, photographer, stylist. I handle the marketing, the strategy, the clients and advertisers - now with the help of my business partner, Gustav. The readers of our ‘magazine’ come to see exactly what I’m working on and where I’m at and I share as much as I can through social media. It’s not really that complicated! I’m passionate about it and I’m lucky to have it - though it’s a lot of work.
I get alot of emails asking me about to become popular/famous/rich from blogging. The pessimist in me wants to say ‘You can’t, just just have to BE it!’. That’s really how I started, without this goal in mind. The truth is - the examples of how it’s done are all out there, there’s so many success stories, each person has done it in a way that suits them and is unique to their interests. Being well researched and original is key. This is a dream job! I’m forever grateful to you for following all this way and giving me this. It’s made me fulfilled in my career. I hope I can continue to further my skills and creativity and share more interesting content in the years to come. 🙂
Photos by Gustav Carlson for Vogue China
sweater, I Love Mr Mittens
pants, CH by Carolina Herrera
bag, CH by Carolina Herrera
shoes, Senso
P.S. Spot the yellow snow! (eww - probably should have shopped that out)
