“This must be a seating mistake,” thought one Filipino fashion blogger Bryanboy, when he found himself seated next to US Vogue editor Anna Wintour, a fashion industry icon, at New York Fashion Week last year.
At 24, Bryanboy has, over the years, emerged as one of the most well-renowned fashion bloggers with 140 000 page views a day, more than 50 000 followers on Twitter and revenue generated by advertising from brands such as Net-a-Porter and Gap Clothing.
This comes at a time when bloggers, as trends forecaster Dion Chang explains, are becoming the “voice of the people”. Bloggers are emerging as a kind of “street journalist. A modern-day freelance journalist”, he adds. “If you look at where blogging used to be, with people like Perez Hilton, it used to be about personal opinion, but it has become a lot more refined. Readers look for credibility.”
Local blogger Vuyiswa Mutshekwane, who started blogging while still working as a fashion buyer at one of the country’s biggest retailers, agrees. “Bloggers have a credibility that consumers respond to and brands cannot ignore,” she says. Mutshekwane recently left the corporate world for entrepreneurial pursuits that saw her opening her first boutique in Braamfontein, Joburg.” More on Independent Online.
Founded in 2007, Ladybrille® Magazine is a California based pioneer digital publication demystifying the image of Africans in the west through contemporary African fashion and celebrating the brilliant woman in business and leadership, with an emphasis on the African woman in the diaspora. Our coverage includes stories on capital, access to markets, expertise, hiring and retention, sales, marketing, and promotions.
