Top ranking fashion blogs and their role in the current fashion industry

textabstractSocial media is a digital platform with a wide impact on personal as well as business communication. A communication model where the addresser sends messages to receivers has been taken over predominantly by a new dynamic model where all participants have the opportunity to actively interact during the entire communication process. Concerning the fashion industry, there is hesitance to start communicating in this manner as the character of this media brings potential risk of losing control over their consumers. Despite this reticence, social media is recognized as being beneficial in the area of public relations and marketing of fashion as its products are essentially cultural artifacts that stem from social trends and norms and can effectively be circulated through the Web 2.0 sphere. Within the last decade, fashion has become more of a global industry catering to transnational customers with diverse lifestyles, religions, and cultures which makes the recognition of and identification with particular customers more complex (Easey, 2002). Simultaneously, the radical change in communication allows users to participate, follow and discuss any trend and fashion news and purchase fashion items easily online. In particular, the blogosphere has become a prime arena within which fashion consumers reside online, bringing to question who and what are the influencers within these new digital and cultural spaces in the fashion industry. Blogging in general is considered a popular form of online journalism, enjoying the attention of users due to the platform’s personal and interactive approach versus the standardized treatment through mainstream media. Fashion blogs are perceived as a ‘street of fashion,’ as a source of authenticity and a display of the actual use of fashion by the general public (Bollier and Racine, 2005). However, this new cultural sphere continues to be resisted by established fashion brands and designers who do not incorporate them into their corporate communication (Okonkwo, 2007; Guzelis, 2010). Fashion bloggers are looked upon skeptically as they are viewed to not have the proper expertise guaranteeing quality and credible reporting (Lichtenstein, 2009). This is not to say that fashion bloggers are not influential; in fact, these amateur-experts have proven an impressive capacity to build up a wide audience following, and have even impacted mainstream media and the fashion industry. While we are aware of these trends, few studies have shed light on the nature and characteristic of this new cultural and online domain of the fashion industry. Thereby, this paper focuses on some of the most effective blogs and bloggers, delving into who they are, what kinds of strategies do they employ to attract a wide audience and what are the range of characteristics that make an effective blog. The aim of this paper is to enhance the understanding of this new cultural realm, especially in three avenues: identity of bloggers, the culture of space of their blogs, and their actual and potential use as a tool of fashion marketing and brand management