“Influencers are the new disruptors
of the fashion industry,” says Lisa Aiken,
retail fashion director of Net-a-Porter. “The
likes of Alexa Chung, Giorgia and Gilda
[of Attico], Natalie Joos of Joos Tricot
and Harley Viera-Newton are founders of
their respective brands and their own best
brand ambassadors. They are impacting the
sector in so many ways, through their sway,
their social-media presence and the direct
relationship with their customers. It’s
a combination that has led them to
perform really strongly in the market.”
Ida Petersson, womenswear buying
director of Browns Fashion, agrees:
“Social media influencers are giving the
industry something new and exciting.
To stay relevant in today’s luxury
market, you have to be able to hold
your audience’s interest. Bloggers are
masters of that: they can reach global
audiences and communicate directly
with their clientele, and not just with
buyers. I find that very interesting.”
And the public hunger for
influencer-endorsed pieces is clearly
voracious. Attico, which launched
exclusively on Net-a-Porter last year,
sold out within days of its release.
Chiara Ferragni—who boasts 10
million Instagram followers and
whose eponymous brand generated
close to US$20 million in revenue
last year—has proved so successful
with her collections that she recently
moved her presence offline, opening
her first boutique in Shanghai in
June and her second in Milan in July.
According to the Business of Fashion,
her e-commerce arm grew 235 per cent
between June 2016 and June 2017.
Harvard Business School has even
made her into a case study.“Compared to the big brands, influencers
project a sense of ease, of street-style
‘carelessness’ and individuality,” says
Rocamora. “Their outfits might be well-
studied and their poses rehearsed to
perfection, but they look approachable,
even when they’re touting something a little
‘different.’ You look at them and think
‘Maybe I can wear that too.’ They ‘get it,’
or so we believe.”GIRLS WHO GET IT
From top: Attico founders Giorgia Tordini and Gilda
Ambrosio; accessories from Attico’s Autumn/Winter 2017
collection. Opposite page: Looks from Attico’s Autumn/
Winter 2017 collection68 hong kong tatler fashion. september 2017