Spot the difference: Betty Autier v. Zara

The rise of blogging and its influence on our sartorial choices has meant a swift change in the way fashion houses and brands are doing business. Pandora, Betty, Jane and Alix have all witnessed the beauty of Coco Chanel's Parisian apartment, once closed to the public it is now open to a select few who are the new muses of fashion.

While some brands are openly transparent with bloggers and the projects that they work on together, others seem to skip over them all together, forgetting the key to many blog's success- involvement in their communities, open discussion and acknowledgement that our opinions count.

This morning I stumbled across Betty Autier's post, trawled through 250 comments all of which were utterly dismayed by Zara's lack of courtesy. This is quite similar to the uproar that started on IFB a few weeks ago surrounding Payless Shoes and Chictopia using member's photographs without permission or credit.

It seems to me that a quick telephone call, or email would have sufficed and even worked in Zara's favour. Now, I'm no blogging it-girl, I've never had Chanel inviting me to sit on Coco's steps, but if a company such as Zara called and said, "hey Lola we want to put a cartoon of your ever so gorgeous mug on our t-shirts" I would have been absolutely flattered. I may have even whipped up a lovely little blog post and all of those 250 comments and rising may have translated into a little pot of t-shirt gold.

Instead, the company has most likely risked any future cross promotion with Miss Autier and alienated a fair chunk of their targeted demographic. Not such a smart move when most of us no longer look to magazines for style inspiration but Betty et al.

What do you think? How should companies deal with situations like this? Sink their heads in the sand or try to understand the dynamics of the blogging economy a little better?

Garance Dore for Westfield

So this morning I woke up at the treacherous time of 4am to make my flight to Sydney. I'm not complaining at all though, if this is what is in store for my career, then I'm pretty happy..... all in all Garance Dore was so so lovely, charming, sweet and funny. I am a fairly timid person and she was so easy to talk to!

After the party I managed to spy Scott Schuman (a.k.a The Sartorialist) in action. Look out for a gorgeous girl with a cute pixie blonde do' and pastel yellow skirt on his blog in the near future...

You're hot and you're cold...

Yesterday I listened to a podcast featuring Natalie Massenet of net-a-porter.com fame and designer Rouland Mouret. They discussed the way in which fashion will be consumed in the future and that how we shop will be revolutionised. They didn't specify what form this will take on exactly, although they did press on to say that more video content will become available.

While listening to this I became rather excited. Fashion, shopping and online media is somewhat of a new fish in the online ocean, still floating around trying to take it's rightful place.

Then this morning, I became a little frustrated at a certain designer and their pr. I have been trying to no avail to secure the look book of their Winter 2010 range for Wikifashion. Suffice to say that this exercise is akin to finding a sober person in a bar.

Now this look book is not under such tight wraps that no one can see it, rest assured I know that a lot of customers have been sent the pdf copy. It's just that the designer, I believe does not want to release a copy to the media. I can understand their point of view, this is how things have always been done. Look book is released to retailers, retailers let their customers have a quick peak and then the media are thrown the crumbs and left to squabble like a couple of seagulls at the beach.

I do not for one second think that Wikifasion is so important that I deserve a copy, but we are one of the top searches for "insert designers name winter" "insert designer's name winter 2010" and "insert designer's name", you can catch my drift. So when people click on our link looking for this look book, it's more than a little embarrassing to only have a few pictures and a summary of the collection available. Like I've said before, Wikifashion is a community site, it's for the good of designers and their customer's alike. I'm trying to help, I pinky promise.

This brings me back to my first point- fashion and shopping is apparently about to become revolutionised. How? If I can't even secure a look book, how is it that I will secure video content, or designers will even feel the need to create this type of material? Perhaps I'm a little new school, but sometimes I think that designers and pr act like a couple of kids on their first day of kindy. Some designers may literally be online, but that doesn't mean that the way they conduct themselves online isn't exactly the same as in a bricks and mortar world. I think it's high time for many to adapt and adopt new methods, to stop fighting the wave and go with it.

Does anyone have any thoughts about this? Sorry if this came across a little negative. I do think that there are a lot of designers and online stores doing marvellous things online, who really understand how to create content that is appropriate for internet users.

*update: The designer's pr have sent me a copy of the look book in question. Yay!

Refinery 29: A Brave New Online World

This afternoon I attended Portable Presents Refinery 29, at The Edge in Brisbane, where the founder Philippe van Borries and style director, Piera Gelardi of the site, discussed the future of online retail, the role of social media and the new direction in fashion reporting and business.

Refinery 29 is one of New York's most forward thinking online fashion publication's, it's one part global fashion guide and two parts fashion editorial. With over one million unique visitors each month, the site is no small fry in the fashion world.

Listening to Philippe and Piera was so incredible, the way they dissected their business and carefully explained how they built their site to what it is today was so inspiring for me and has only fuelled me to work harder on Wikifashion.

With only $5000 to launch, they managed to introduce their site to the cream of the New York fashion world, interviewing Alexander Wang in his apartment and partnering with YSL and the Gilt Group.

They have managed to create a unique and dynamic dialogue with consumers and their audience, shaping their content to them and being able to envisage trends. Their out of the box approach to content and editorials have allowed them to forge an important place for themselves among online fashion publications.

They understood the way in which fashion is consumed was changing and designers would no longer have control over their brands if they didn't participate in the online conversation. Part of their success was their championing of independent stores and designers like Alexander Wang and Erin Fetherston, their ability to develop unique relationships allowed Refinery 29 to not only report on fashion but to allow designers to truly communicate and listen to their customers. In short, they created a higher level of personalisation and customisation.

Their discussion of upcoming trends in the online world was fascinating. Content, mobile, crowdsourcing and location based services are the next wave of technologies that brands and publications must come to grips with. It seems that fashion is only getting more fast paced and if you are not adapting you will miss the boat.

One of the most important pieces of advice I have taken from the night came from Philippe, all you need is one idea everyday and risk is more important than experience.

I'd urge anyone who is interested in social media and fashion reporting to snap up a ticket or two for the Sydney or Melbourne events, it's invaluable for brands and communicators alike.

edit: The above photo is actually of Piera and Philippe, it was used on their wedding invitations.

Techno Vogue: Conde Nast to launch magazines for iPad

When the iPad was announced a short while ago, my interest in the device was certainly piqued. I had already convinced myself that I not only wanted this device but I needed it. Isn't it funny that before it came along I had no use or desire for a portable screen in which to read material from?

Maybe I just love Apple products, or the one and a half hour key note sucked me in and kindly spat me out? Either way I am giddy with excitement for the release of Apple's newest toy. Although being the sensible consumer that I am, you will not see me camped outside the Apple store to be one of the first to purchase the iPad. Even though those who do, have been promised a free "gift".

You might ask why someone who is *relatively technologically inept would want another electronic device? This brings me to my other insatiable love, magazines. I adore them, the first Monday of every month is denoted as "Magazine day" in my household. I love the glossy pages, fashion editorials and feature articles. When Conde Nast announced that they were developing versions of their magazines for iPad, I turned into kid in a candy store.

Can you imagine receiving all of your subscriptions every month on your iPad? You can forgo the unreliable postie and that knot in your back from carrying your stash out of Borders, nestle your iPad on your lap and literally flip through hundreds of pages, without so much as reaching over the coffee table for your next hit. That is unless of course you want another Tim Tam.

Up until yesterday, the majority of magazines to announce an iPad version have been relatively male orientated: GQ, Esquire and Wired. However, Conde Nast have announced that Glamour, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker have been added to the line up. Under Cindi Leive, Glamour has become a digital success story, with their blog driven approach, the magazine has seen a surge in traffic over the past year. This combined with their substantial, youthful print and online audience, Glamour has the potential to attract a large number of iPad users.

The only qualm that I have about this form of publication, is that it is creating an element of intangibility. I love the scent magazines have from the sample perfumes and the feeling of glossy paper between my fingertips. Will this factor in your decision to read magazines this way? Or will the convenience of the iPad triumph? I believe that there will always be a place for traditional media although online media can certainly provide added value to consumers as a whole. All in all it is an exciting time for the publishing industry.

* I say relatively because I live with a super computer genius. Obviously I run a website, blog and love social media, so I'm not completely befuddled by my computer.

The Economics of Tavi 101

A lot has been discussed in the past week about the antiquated debate of fashion bloggers versus fashion journalists. My general feeling, is that it's basically a game of the pot calling the kettle black. Fashion journalists have accused some of online's most publicised bloggers of being "sell outs" and mouth pieces for public relation consultants. To me this is the height of hypocrisy, magazines have long been chained to advertising dollars, journalists' words at the beck and call of their editors and editors scramble to feed their readers advertisements disguised as genuine articles and so the cycle continues.

For the most part I think journalists have their Stella McCartney knickers in a knot because they do not understand the online world, the free flow of information and user generated content. For too long they have controlled the ship, they liked their absolute advantage over fashion content, now they too must navigate the murky waters. Magazines once operated under monopolistic competition, they understood one another and knew the game like the back of their hands. They can see fashion bloggers forming a comparative advantage over the online narrative and did not anticipate their own slip.

The print media are suffering from what is called adaptive expectations, this basically denotes that ones views of the future are depicted by assuming past trends and errors will continue. If only journalists could be more dynamic and understand that if they let go of the golden rope, they would be able to change and grow with the online world. By holding onto their tried and true methods they are risking defeat. The online world has opened up a raft of new opportunities, the barriers to entry are extremely low and so a lot of new players have entered the game.

It seemed that both bloggers and journalists were playing nice, until a simple bow construed the view of certain editor. The bow in question belonged to none other than Tavi of Style Rookie, a seemingly unstoppable force in the fashion world. I would liken Tavi to that of an asymmetric shock. Her establishment into the online world created a minor stir, but once she stepped over that invisible line into the tangible fashion industry, her bow acted like a satirical noose to the print media and editors alike. The bevy of bloggers now vying for their precious advertising dollars have caused a raucous.

No longer will the two be divvied up like first class and economy. Both forms of media serve different and very important purposes. It's high time the market and readers had access to a wider variety of content. Although in the short term a flood of information may decrease quality, the market will correct itself and return to a fashionable equilibrium. Until then, why can't the two enjoy a friendly oligopoly?

Chictopia 10 Social Influence Summit

Many of you would have heard of Chictopia, it is a fantastic community for the fashion industry and bloggers alike. On February 13th they are holding a summit which will involve a mixture of technologically savvy brands, upcoming designers and the cream of the crop fashion bloggers. In all, three hundred bloggers will be attending the event in New York. Topics covered include, blogging and the future, who is the next Rodarte? and why we value individual style?

Unfortunately living in Australia has restricted me from attending. However, being resourceful I thought just because I can't physically attend, why not attend online? In short the lovely Phyllis from "For a Delicate Few" will be attending on behalf of Wikifashion. During the event she will be our guest tweeter, take photos and conduct little interviews. I am beyond excited to see what she comes up with.

Once I started to wander down the yellow brick road, I thought New York Fashion Week starts the day after the summit. Why not attend that too? Unfortunately I did not receive invitations, but why not find someone who did? This lead to the very gorgeous Keiko of Keiko Lynn offering to be Wikifashion's guest tweeter during numerous shows, a Mod Cloth party and the Independent Fashion Bloggers conference. I'm sure my head will be spinning trying to keep up with the flood of tweets, photos and information I receive from these two super bloggers in the following week. So if I am a little absent, you know why!

If you want to take a peak into any of these events, why don't you follow Wikifashion?

note: I have been working hard on your V-day gift and hopefully I will finish it tonight.

Join the Itty Bitty Titty Committee

Sorry if the title is a little offensive to some, it's my way of making light of an extremely irritating political view that has arisen in Australia within the last week. Several days ago it was announced by the Australian Sex Party, that the Australian Classification Board will now be refusing classification of small breasted women in adult publications and films.
The National Classification Code dictates that anything that describes or depicts a person who is, or appears to be a child under the age of 18 will be refused classification. As someone who is small breasted, this has made me feel more than a little insecure about myself. Not that I intend to publish nude photographs of myself on the Internet, however if I were so inclined, they would be deemed illegal.

Why on earth would the Government choose to pass an incredulous law like this? This will not only serve to make women feel more insecure about themselves, but will also continue to shape the notion of "sexy" = "endowed". Not fair I say! What about my hips, the indentation at my waist or my rather large derriere? Will these be my saving grace for my illegally small breasts? Will there be a minimum cup requirement? Or will breasts be stopped at the gate merely by guesstimate? Who is this person who decides what is underdeveloped? Let's just hope little ladies that this person does not have a subscription to Ralph.
Thank you for tuning into this post, we will now return to Lola's regular programming schedule.

Jo Walker on how to become a writer....

When the student becomes the master

Tavi Gevinson, with her Mia Farrow-esque hair and diminutive stature is the fashion industry's current obsession. Since the inception of her blog in March of 2008, Tavi has traveled to New York for fashion shows, worn custom clothing by Rodarte and interviewed the likes of Kirsten Dunst and Amy Astley.

Just when her I thought the pixie dust had settled, Harper's Bazaar invited the thirteen year old to contribute a column to their magazine. People often question the genuineness of her talent, stumbling over the sheer size of her fashion knowledge. I think it is wonderful that someone so young can focus themselves so well and challenge the perceptions of an insidiously difficult industry.