Bloggers and Influencers in the fashion world

A few years ago, Valentino, answering an interviewer who asked him about his opinion on influencers, said that ‘the influencers propose ridiculous and wrong choices and spread bad taste’, and added that ‘one’s own style must win over vulgarity: this incredible market of bad taste is increasingly infiltrating the world of young people, thanks to influencers who propose ridiculous and wrong choices’. The interviewer, pressing him, asked what he thought if he was also called an influencer, given the number of followers that follower on his Instagram profile. Valentino replied: ‘No, I don’t want to be called that and there are influencers and influencers’.

Well, these few words expressed by the great saint of fashion made in Italy are a happy synthesis of the current phenomenon of digital marketing: people distance themselves from it but everyone uses it.
In today’s fast-moving world, it is difficult for companies in any sector to emerge and maintain market leadership, and over the past decades digital innovations have become the solution to all problems and are now seen as an opportunity.

Who are influencers and how do they operate?

In this ‘revolutionary’ context, Influencer Marketing has made its way alongside traditional advertising. The latter practice uses individuals, known as Influencers, to promote a product or service, who are able to guide the purchasing preferences of potential buyers and direct marketing activities around these individuals, who may or may not be VIPs: the important thing is their visibility and credibility in front of users.

Typically, the virtual platforms used are Instagram and Facebook where, for the most part, influencers are able to attract a considerable mass of users. In fact, it has been shown that when the product is sponsored especially on Instagram, it triggers a different approach compared to other more traditional channels, because consumers are able to interact more with those who are recommending or promoting the product or sponsoring the brand. Companies therefore target those influencers who are found through research and surveys to be most popular and most able to influence consumer opinions.

Lately, numerous brands, from the largest to the smallest, have tried the influencer marketing card with often very successful results. Having one’s own products tested and reviewed by a larger or smaller web celebrity potentially offers many advantages in terms of increasing brand awareness and the level of perceived consumer trust in the company.

Traditional Advertising or Influencer Marketing in the fashion system’s marketing strategy?

Lately, it seems that most brands devote themselves almost exclusively to social marketing, neglecting magazine advertising. However, the two methods can coexist: to reach a younger, transversal audience, it may be useful to use social platforms (Instagram, Facebook); to target a loyal audience with fashion magazines, you can continue with traditional marketing strategies.

There are, however, some fashion houses that still prefer not to use social media, as there might be a problem of not being able to control the brand image anymore. Some fashion houses, usually luxury brands, still prefer not to use influencers because they do not want to be associated with an advertising medium that is considered mass and not in line with their identity.

Fashion and the future, what will post-pandemic fashion look like?

It will certainly be different and everyone is convinced of this, stylists, haute couture companies, bespoke tailors and consumers.

We are still in a transitional phase, where there is certainly a lot of anxiety and uncertainty. Fashion shows, parties, celebrations, seem like distant memories.

However, there is a need to react, and there is no getting away from continuing to present products in a way that allows people to live their dream and believe in a renaissance, imagining the future of fashion more socially and culturally engaged.

The web is communication and, therefore, these changes generated by the pandemic will affect the entire fashion world, which will have to find the right support in the online world.

At the same time, this situation should make us reflect on the importance of craftsmanship, on how important it is to go back to working locally, to re-establishing relationships with Italian companies. This aspect must be emphasised because craftsmanship, as well as being linked to quality, is a very important cultural heritage for us Italians.

Finally, e-commerce, digitalisation and a special focus on sustainability will be the future and effective allies in the rebirth of Italian-made fashion. We come from a decade of low-cost shopping and now maybe we will see an anti-consumer movement. To reach increasingly disillusioned and frugal consumers, brands must use creative ways to regain value and rethink their corporate mission.