Follow Me

Follow Me! The fashion industry has found a new favourite medium. Instagram followers are the social media currency of the hour. The combination of private insights, global inspiration, and visual information is especially appealing to those who strive to be faster than anyone else. Text: Martina Müllner. Illustration: Claudia Meitert@Caroline Seidler. Sarah Rutson, vice presiPhotos: Interviewees dent of global buying at net-aporter.com, is on Ibiza. Riccardo

Tisci, the head of design at

Gucci, is there too. And because the world is a small place, Elina

Halimi, the owner of Parisian luxury store Kabuki, posts the same sunset as Rutson and Tisci - merely photographed from a different corner of the Balearic island. You may ask what this has Puces de Saint-Quen. “If you and understandably so. The New to do with fashion. The answer want to sell fashion to others York office only recently added is: a lot. After all three individutoday, you need your own stage”, some rather famous individuals (incidentally the most influthe German FAZ newspaper tials to its payroll. Eva Chen, a ential of this year’s Ibiza visitors) tled an article about Leila Yavari. close friend of Anna Wintour, take some Ibiza vibes back to the Is it a coincidence that today’s is a good example. As of July, office. Is this picturesque sunset top fashion buyers are athletic the former editor-in-chief of the birth of another micro trend? (the men) and zero skinny (the Lucky Magazine - and self-made

During the pre-social media era - women)? It certainly won’t come Instagram star - can add the can anyone remember what that as a surprise to anyone that the beautiful title “Instagram head of was really like? - such coherence fashion industry has embraced fashion partnerships” to her CV. would have gone completely Instagram, which is a self-exOne does want to earn back that unnoticed. Well, maybe a highly pression medium predestined for billion somehow, after all. This paid trend scout would have vanities. means that business models that interviewed all three, translated are largely based on free traffic the Ibiza impressions into a When It’s in Bunte, It’s from Instagram are on shaky colour chart, and published it #commonsense legs. Or they are built on the rein a trend book. How old does No, Instagram is no longer an alistic prospect that one will have this business model sound today? insider medium. This is proven to hand over a “share of check

In 2015, you need a fat “k” by 400 million active users out” to Instagram and Facebook behind the number of followers. worldwide (September 2015) in the future - in whatever form

Justin O’Shea, buying director and by the fact that Facebook that may be. at mytheresa.com, has approxpaid one billion US Dollars for However, the view through the imately 65,000 followers (as of Instagram in 2012. Another keyhole of designers, creative

September), Sarah Rutson has good example is “Die Bunte”. minds, buyers, and agents 34.4k, and Leila Yavari, fashion The German yellow press icon remains open to us all. Marc director at Stylebops, has 25.9k. recently started illustrating the Jacobs just settled down for the

One is part of it - every day for a prominence of the depicted night with Neville, his pit bull. few moments. One is right there twenty-somethings in Instagram There’s that goodnight selfie for when Justin places an order at followers when reporting from his 289k followers. Suzy Menkes

Miu Miu in Milan, when Sarah events such as the MTV Video is thrilled. The Grand Dame invites friends to hang out in the Music Awards. When it’s in fashof fashion journalism adores

Hamptons with Gwyneth Palion, it’s in Vogue - and when it’s Instagram, both for personal trow, and when Leila is inspired for the masses, it’s in Bunte! inspiration and for the purpose by the luxury flea market Aux Instagram’s owners are delighted, of reporting from the many events, exhibitions, and shops that don’t make it into her Vogue column. She raved about the advantages of Instagram during an interview with Marc Jacobs - and promptly he also became an addict. Such stories hardly ever find a place in traditional media channels, which is why they are so fascinating. Especially as these “insider stories” are not only about people, but, in many cases, about brands.

Discover Brands Earlier “We discovered Briston Watches on Instagram”, says Tommy Wieler, who manages the agency Another Souvenir together with his wife, jewellery designer Vanessa Baroni-Wieler. They established direct contact swiftly and, a mere few weeks later, the watch brand was in the portfolio of the sales professionals. And even more importantly, the watch brand went straight into stores such as Engelhorn, The Listener, Apropos The Concept Store, Lodenfrey, and Bungalow. The doors literally flew open. “If you click your way through the Instagram jungle for a while, you develop an eye for special things. This format is just brilliant for portraying the image of a label; you can determine whether a label has style very quickly.” As an agent, one is “always on the lookout. It never stops. After all, it is our goal to find exciting items that correspond to the style of our accessories agency.” Seeing that everyone goes hunting at trade shows, the Wieler family believes that Instagram is currently an insider tip. Warm-Me’s Theresa Steinbacher also uses Instagram: “However, I never use it for private purposes, but exclusively for our Warm-Me brand. Naturally, I always keep an eye on the room with a view agency too. Anine Bing, Sincerely Jules, Cecilie Copenhagen, and Ateline Pauline are all brands that rose to fame via Instagram. Clever buyers who search Instagram often spot such brands half a year before everyone else. This means that the medium enters into a certain competition with the classic agency business. A top retailer that is a real early bird will naturally try to ensure that the in-house research is

Nicole Doleh, owner of Inked: “My scouting and sourcing is an exclusively offline activity.” Uwe Maier, Bungalow and Bungalow Gallery: “I am convinced that Instagram is a great opportunity for smaller brands.”

ahead of the agencies.” Bungalow Stuttgart’s Uwe Maier agrees that it has turned into a bit of a race: “Of course you’re happy when you stock a brand before it even has a German representative. On Instagram you can sometimes discover brands where you think: ‘Oh, that’s cute. I’ll pop by when I’m in Paris.’ I am, however, quite Swabian in nature, which means that I do tend to monitor a new brand for two seasons before placing an order.”

What Up? “When I see the display windows on the Selfridges account, I feel just as well informed as if I was in London myself”, Theresa Steinbacher swoons. Colette, Beams, The Store, Luisa Via Roma - Instagram offers a round-up of the world’s leading stores free of charge. “Of course you check out what the others are doing”, Uwe Maier agrees. “I don’t research on Instagram, no”, says Nicole Doleh, the owner of Inked in Vienna. “Precisely for this reason: if you can find something on the Internet, then anyone, who has a reasonable insight, is ambitious enough, and is sufficiently patient, can find it. That’s not enough for me. My scouting and sourcing is an exclusively offline activity. I need to get out there. I need to visit cities like New York or LA, but preferably areas that are not also frequented by everyone else. Last year, for example, I was trekking in the hills and, by pure coincidence, met the owner of a very exciting sportswear brand. Sometimes I just hang out in front of a whole food market in Brooklyn for a day to take photographs of the people there. Can I spot a new look? Is there something new out there? That’s my definition of research; I don’t merely browse through Instagram posts. The latter would feel like using a tabloid as a source for insider tips.” However, Doleh is a heavy-user of social media for her store. Instagram and Facebook, as well as the Inkedology Blog, contribute to the store’s identity significantly. “This is where we communicate our lifestyle; it has very little to do with pure sales or acquisitions. Our newsletter is, for instance, called ‘gang tabloid’, because we perceive ourselves as exactly that: as a gang - in the positive sense - and a community that is interested in honest, valuable, and rich stories and brands.” Naturally, such measures also generate sales. “We do receive requests from all over the world, which is obviously a nice feedback.”

That’s Worth a Heart! Alessandro Squarzi, owner of the eponymous agency with branches in Milan, Bologna, Florence, and Ancona, uses his personal Instagram account and his agency’s corporate account “outbound”. He says: “I use the

Theresa Steinbacher, brand manager at Warm-Me: “A top retailer will naturally try to ensure his research is ahead of the agencies.” Alessandro Squarzi, Showroom Alessandro Squarzi and owner of Fortela: “I learn so much via Instagram.”

accounts to promote myself and Fortela, my brand that I wear every day.” It certainly helps when creator and brand are so congruent. His years of experience in the fashion business literally forced him into developing his own private label. The style can be described as “modern gypsy for men” and he, as an Italian through and through, certainly is the best role model one could imagine. “I learn so much via Instagram. No, I haven’t discovered a new brand for our agency yet, but I have been contacted by many consumers.” This is a whole new facet of exchange, especially for someone who has, so far, worked behind the scenes of the fashion circus. Logically, such feedback convinces, seeps into the work, and inspires. “Instagram is a great presentation platform for your work. You can be discovered by new people and existing customers can follow what you’re doing.” “Instagram & Co have completely changed the way that new brands surface. The big advantage is that you can establish direct contact with consumers from one day to the next, receive feedback immediately, and build a solid fan base”, Theresa Steinbacher explains. “The pace of social media makes the classic season rhythm - actually every kind of rhythm - completely obsolete. Trends rise so quickly; and many disappear again just as quickly. For start-ups like our brand Warm-Me, this represents quite a big investment. We need visual material throughout the year and, more importantly, we need ideas and an interesting storytelling concept. It’s a challenge to create that kind of content.” “I am convinced that Instagram is a great opportunity for small brands”, says Uwe Maier. “For us retailers, however, the question is whether we are focused on gaining followers or buyers. For me, it’s ultimately about quality, as always. Do I have people among my followers who say: ‘Yes, that’s great. I want to buy that item.”?

Tommy Wieler, owner of the sales agency Another Souvenir: “If you click your way through this Instagram jungle, you develop an eye for special things.”