****
International Herald Tribune
Fashion Tuesday, September 18, 2007 III
Flashy and tailor-made: Rag trade blogs
Web offers ‘must-have’ viewpoints
that rattle runways and showrooms
By Fleur Britten mous shoe blogger (http://shoeb-
logs.com) disputes claims in British
LONDON Vogue that he earns $700,000 a year,
ompetition for tickets to Lon- though he does admit: “The Manolo, he

C don Fashion Week just got a is the six-figure blogger.” He also now
whole lot tougher. Why? Be- has a weekly column in the Washing-
cause there is a brand new ton Post Express, a free daily published
breed of fashionista being courted by by the U.S. newspaper.
designers: the fashion blogger. Meanwhile, the self-appointed fash-
These citizen journalists are securing ion police behind Go Fug Yourself (“a Reputedly the most profitable
the scoops, attracting big-budget advert- commentary on celebrities with unfor- independent fashion blog is
isers and amassing millions of readers tunate dress sense,” who claim more Manolo’s Shoe Blog, whose
— a kind of fashion people’s revolution. than 3 million unique users a month) anonymous writer refuses to
“Up till now, the fashion industry has have recently signed a six-figure book be identified except by his
virtually been a mafia,” says Chris deal, and have been employed by New brown shoes, left; Susanna
Cholette, blog-watcher and founder of York Magazine to cover the past three Lau, above, is Susie Bubble,
the shopping portal fashionIQ.com. ‘‘It New York fashion weeks. the London-based blogger
dictates what’s going to be fashionable. The blog (gofugyourself.type- whose site recently received a
It’s like, ‘You have to wear blue boots pad.com) pays well enough — prima r- Best Of Brit Blog Award. And,
this fall.’ Bloggers offer an alternative ily through advertising — for its at right, the bloggers at Go Fug
voice that says what people are really founders Jessica Morgan, 32, and Yourself, Jessica Morgan and
wearing, as opposed to what the indus- Heather Cocks, 30, to quit their day Heather Cocks, recently signed
try says they are.” jobs. “It started out as a joke,” says Mor- a six-figure book deal.
FashionIQ estimates that worldwide gan. “We never did any marketing; we
there are about 800 fashion blogs of never had a business plan. We really
note that are not associated with didn’t anticipate this happening.” “blogwagon”, early adopters are Donna you feel like you’re on the right track.” eventually becoming subject to the as society,” says Cholette. “In India
magazines or corporations. Largely Therein lies the attraction of blogs: Karan, Eley Kishimoto, Jun Takahashi But for the moment, the spotlight is same constraints as mainstream media. three years ago, the top sites were for
written by “prosumers,” “Bloggers are not of Undercover, Sue Stemp and the en- on people power. “Everybody wants a “If a fashion blogger is in the front jobs, matrimony and porn. Nowadays,
or professional con- bound by the same vironmentally conscious designer bit of fashion’s glamour,” says Cholette. row at Chanel for the first time, it will it’s much more advanced. There’s some
sumers, they discuss rules of objectivity as Katharine Hamnett. “They’re all hoping to be the next Karl be hard for them to be objective,” he really cool stuff from these countries,
subjects like celebrity professional journa- “We’re done with enigma,” says Lagerfeld. Even if they’re doing a job says. “If they write anything critical, specifically adapted to suit their needs
fashion, street style and lists,” says Derek Gor- Hamnett. “When transparency is the that they find stupid, they can still they might not be invited back.” so there’s an interesting social perspec-
“Oh-my-God-you-have- don, vice president of byword for anyone working for sustain- dream about being a fashion superstar All is not lost in cyberspace, though, tive. Finally, it’s a spring from another
to-have-th is” shoppi ng marketing for Technor- ability, it’s good for us to be less myste- by blogging about it.” because a whole new blog subspecies source.”
tips. ati, the blog search en- rious. Plus we’re dealing with political As a result, the fashion blogosphere is has been identified: local style blogs in
And there is a hungry gine, “so we’re seeing issues, so it’s important to put ideas out becoming hyper-developed; Cholette places like Kuwait, India and Algeria. Fleur Britten is an editor at the Sun-
audience: Fashion fol- an explosion of candor. there, while readers’ feedback makes sees the most popular fashion blogs “The Web evolves on the same lines day Times Style Magazine in London.
lowers know that to be Opinion is their lingua
current, they have to franca and audiences
keep tabs on blogs. are increasingly falling
“Bloggers can react in love with that.”
much faster than tradi- And where the pub-
tional media,” expla ins lic goes, advertisers
Cholette. “A blogger can soon follow. “The big
review a runway show retailers are shifting
within an hour, com- their advertising dol-
plete with video feeds.” lars to these blogs,”
In contrast, glossy says Gordon, although
magazines work as no statistics on fashion
much as three months, blog advertising are
or even longer, in ad- readily available.
va nce. In turn, the print me-
Brita in’s top fashion dia are responding. For
blog, according to the example, V Magazine, a
recent Best Of Brit Blog New York-based bi-
Awards held by the Lon- monthly, started its
don newspaper Metro, is blog last summer. “Our
Style Bubble, written by readers live online,”
Susanna Lau, 23. A me- says V’s blog editor,
dia planner by day, Lau Christopher Bartley.
thought she would “give “So we needed more of
blogging a go” a fter a Web presence. Our
avidly reading other blog gives people ac-
fashion blogs. The designer Katharine cess to V who might
Style Bubble (http:// Hamnett has her own blog. never see it in person.”
stylebubble.type- It also allows V to be
pad.com) is Lau’s “personal journey in freer in voice, says Bartley, who has
fash ion,” and features photos of her commissioned guest writers including
wearing clothes she likes. With 10,000 the supermodel Agyness Deyn, the mu-
hits a day, it’s no wonder she gets recog- sician David Byrne and the artist Ryan
nized while shopping in Topshop. McGinley. “The blog is much more re-
For the second consecutive season, la xed,” he adds. “Nothing is holding us
Lau will be representing Style Bubble back.”
at London and Paris fashion weeks. But Diane Pernet, a freelance journa-
Earlier this month, Chanel invited Lau list and Paris-based blogger of A
on an all-expenses-paid trip to Paris to Shaded View on Fashion, argues that
promote its latest ad campaign. Other there is much more freedom in inde-
designers have also approached her, of- pendence. Having blogged for
fering clothes in exchange for men- Vogue.com and Elle.com, Pernet re-
tions on the blog. She says she has so far calls, “You might only be able to cover
declined but, perhaps unsurprisingly, is 12 designers a season, and you’d have to
looking into becoming a full-time fash- include the advertisers.”
ion journalist. Her own blog (http://www.ashaded-
Reputedly the most profitable inde- viewonfashion.com) has room for all
pendent fashion blog is Manolo’s Shoe her favorite creatives. “Journalists tell
Blog (nothing to do with Blahnik, al- me they get a lot of information from
though the blog reports Blahnik appar- my blog,” she says.
ently finds it “hila rious”). And what about the designers them-
Making most of his money through selves? While the majority seem slow –
blog-affiliated fashion sales, the anony- or reluctant – to climb aboard the
T U D O R WATC H E S A R E AVA I L A B LE AT O F F I C I A L RO LE X R E TA I LE R S .

Temperley hits
Target in London
By Jessica Michault
LONDON
he American retail giant

T Target has set its sights on

Britain for its latest lux-
ury designer collabora-
tion. After last season’s successful
venture with the design duo
Proenza Schouler, Target has
teamed up with the U.K. designer
Alice Temperley for its first mini-
foray into the British market.
Temperley is bringing the cap-
sule collection she created for Tar-
get’s limited edition program ‘‘GO’’
here for London Fashion Week.
Starting Tuesday and for five days
only (or until supplies run out), the
designer’s easy pieces will be sold
at Selfridges’ Oxford Street store.
‘‘Temperley, Target and Selfridges
make a unique and enticing combi-
nation that will be very attractive
to our customers and create a real
buzz in the store,’’ said Anne Pitch-
er, its buying director.
The collection is full of wear-
able items that keep things nice
and simple. Many use a black and
white contrast to create graphic
looks that should stand the test of
time a bit longer than most gar-
ments in the fast fashion world. A
Black and monochromatic scoop-neck dress
white contrast with diamond detail at the collar,
is a highlight floppy bow belt and wide striped HYDRONAUT II
of Alice hem is sure to be a best-seller as it
Temperley’s is very much in keeping with the Self-winding mechanical movement. Unidirectional
exclusive Temperley aesthetic; a short, black rotatable bezel to check on elapsed time during a dive
collection for overall-style with chalk-white de-
tailing also should do well. and on decompression stops. Sapphire crystal, screw-
Target.
The collection debuted Sept. 16 down crown. Waterproof to 200 m. Steel case 31 mm.
in the United States and on Tar-
Photographs courtesy of Target get.com.