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In a move that could be straight out of The Devil Wears Prada, American Vogue editors have published an article bemoaning the presence of fashion bloggers at Milan Fashion Week, labeling the “street style mess” “pathetic”, “gross” and “heralding the death of style.”
Sally Singer, Vogue creative digital director, started the conversation, describing the situation as “schizophrenic.”
“Note to bloggers who change head-to-toe, paid-to-wear outfits every hour: Please stop. Find another business. You are heralding the death of style,” she wrote.
Sarah Mower, Vogue.com chief critic, chimed in: “the professional blogger bit… is horrible, but most of all, pathetic for these girls, when you watch how many times the desperate troll up and down outside shows, in traffic, risking accidents even, in hopes of being snapped.”
Alessandra Codinha, Vogue.com’s Fashion News Editor, added: “rather than a celebration of any actual style, it seems to be all about turning up, looking ridiculous, posing, twitching in your seat as you check your social media feeds, fleeing, changing, repeating… It’s all pretty embarrassing—even more so when you consider what else is going on in the world.”
Unsurprisingly, the blogosphere has hit back.
BryanBoy, part of the first wave of fashion bloggers, took to Twitter (where he has over 580,000 followers) in response.
“It’s schoolyard bullying, plain and simple,” he wrote. “How satisfying it must be to go for the easy target rather than going for other editors.”
Susie Bubble, another leader of the street-style set, weighed in too.
“Firstly let’s not pretend that editors and stylists are not beholden to brands in one way or another, getting salaries at publications that are stuffed full of credits that are tied to paid advertising but not explicitly stated as such,” she said on Twitter.
“The fashion establishment don’t want their circles enlarged,” she continued. “And for the ivory tower to remain forever that. Towering and impenetrable.”
Top Aussie blogger Zanita Whittington says that the comments “ultimately illustrate how little these editors understand of what it takes to be a successful fashion blogger.”
“Bloggers play a different role to these editors and I had hoped by now they’d see it for what it is – hard working entrepreneurs working in synergy with fashion brands. You don’t just wake up one day and become a successful influencer; I admire so many of my peers for what they have achieved. Each one has built a unique brand and what they do at fashion week is part of content creation and brand relationships for months ahead.”
The Vogue.com team has yet to respond. But with Paris Fashion Week having just started, stay tuned for more drama!
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