But today, if you are famous (= you have a lot of followers), you can work in the fashion industry without having any capability. Even a reality shows personality with no aptitude nor knowledge can become a model, a designer and a photographer. All the same time. At twenty.
Always more often we read headlines about celebrities with the right connections getting more jobs in the fashion industry:
Ma oggi, se una persona è famosa (= ha molti follower), questo le basta per lavorare nell'industria della moda, senza tuttavia averne le capacità. Addirittura un personaggio di un reality show può diventare modella, stilista e fotografa. Tutto nello stesso momento. A vent'anni.
Sempre più spesso leggiamo titoli su celebrità, con le giuste conoscenze, a cui vengono affidati lavori nell'industria della moda:

The content of these articles is normally as absurd as the title lets you presume.
Il contenuto di questi articoli è di solito assurdo tanto quanto i loro titoli lasciano presagire.

Yes, they've written that for real. If you can take a winning selfie, then you can shoot fashion editorials for the biggest fashion magazines. So drop your photography studies and start taking as many selfies as you can. Maybe Katie Grand will notice you.

What if you are studying fashion design? In this case just ask yourself if you are able to match the extravagance level of the legwarmers designed by Gigi Hadid. If the answer is 'yes', then you might be ready to send your portfolio to Tommy Hilfiger.
Sì, lo hanno scritto davvero. Se sai farti un selfie vincente, allora puoi scattare editorials per le maggiori riviste di moda. Quindi lasciate pardere i vostri studi di fotografia e iniziate a farvi più selfie possibili. Forse Katie Grand vi noterà.
E se invece state studiando design della moda? In questo caso chiedetevi se siete in grado di ideare vestiti originali quanto gli scaldamuscoli disegnati da Gigi Hadid. Se la risposta è 'sì', allora potreste essere pronti ad inviare il vostro portfolio a Tommy Hilfiger.

But let's say you don't want to become either a photographer or a designer; there is still one way to enter the meritocratic world of fashion: becoming a model.

Kendall Jenner has now turned into a model scout as well and she is looking for this generation next icon, via Instagram and Twitter.

This time I'm not even against it. I mean, who knows it better than Kendall Jenner if you can become the next generation's icon by posting unremarkable photos on Instagram?
Next step? She will probably be recruiting photographers.
Ma mettiamo il caso che non vogliate diventare nè fotografi nè stilisti; c'è ancora una porta per entrare nel meritocratico mondo della moda: diventare un/a modello/a.
Kendall Jenner ora è anche model scout e sta cercando la prossima icona di questa generazione, via Instagram e Twitter.
Questa volta non ci trovo nulla di sbagliato. Voglio dire, chi meglio di Kendall Jenner saprebbe riconoscere la prossima icona della moda, che altro non dovrebbe fare se non postare foto mediocri su Instagram?
Quale sarà la sua prossima mossa? Probabilmente valuterà e recluterà fotografi.

Fashion is a form of art. The designers are real artists, who feel content when they show their unique creations to the people who are willing and able to understand their message... Or at least this is what I used to think.

In a joint-recap of Milan Fashion week (entitled "Ciao, Milano! Vogue.com’s Editors Discuss the Week That Was"), Vogue.com editors have expressed their intolerance towards bloggers and influencers, claiming that

1. they are just a ridiculous bunch of people who happens to be paid to attend fashion weeks in borrowed or gifted outfits;
2. they only care to be featured in street-style photography sessions;
3. they shouldn’t be called ‘bloggers’ anymore, since most of them don’t even write a word about the runway shows they attended.

Well, let me show you some quotes from this infamous post and then I will let you know what I think about this:

Sally Singer, Vogue Creative Digital Director: "It's a schizophrenic moment, and that just can't be good. (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.)"

Alessandra Codinha, Vogue.com Fashion News Editor, targeting blogger Sally Bubble: "Am I allowed to admit that I did a little fist pump when Sally broached the blogger paradox? There’s not much I can add here beyond how funny it is that we even still call them 'bloggers,' as so few of them even do that anymore. 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. (have you registered to vote yet? Don’t forget the debate on monday!) 
Loving fashion is tremendous, and enthusiasts of all stripes are important to the industry — after all, people buy clothing because of desire, not any real need — but I have to think that soon people will wise up to how particularly gross the whole practice of paid appearances and borrowed outfits looks. Looking for style among a bought-and-paid-for ('blogged out?') front row is like going to a strip club looking for romance. Sure, it's all kind of in the same ballpark, but it's not even close to the real thing."

Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway: "which brings me back around to Sally and Sarah’s points about the street style mess. It's not just sad for the women who preen for the cameras in borrowed clothes, it's distressing, as well, to watch so many brands participate."

Sarah Mower, Vogue.com Chief Critic, targeting blogger Sally Bubble: "So yes, Sally, the professional blogger bit, with the added aggression of the street photographer swarm who attend them, 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."

So basically the "Bible of Fashion" is calling out the “new kids” in the industry to improve the relevance of magazines.

Even though I am happy that Vogue has finally found out what everybody noticed years ago, I can’t help but feeling amused by their complaint: weren’t the fashion magazines the ones who helped feeding the blogger-machine in the first place?
Didn’t they need to feature these people in their websites and magazines to gain impressions and more following?
But above all…aren’t magazines editors behaving just like the bloggers they are hating on?

Let’s consider the crucial fact that these magazines survive only on advertising, which means that like bloggers and influencers they are paid for product placement, therefore 

1. they are implicitly inclined to deliver always positive reviews of the fashion shows they attended (goodbye objectivity!);
2. they are likely to favour the advertisers products when it comes to editorials;
3. just like bloggers, they are gifted with clothes/accessories and even travels (especially when it comes to resort collections, showcased in exclusive locations around the world)

If this alone is enough to target the entire Vogue.com article as an hypocritical writing exercise, let me add the fact that Vogue has lost its last glimpse of reputation the day it sold its soul to the Kardashian/Jenners (courtesy of Kanye West): isn’t this the “prestigious” magazine who gave Kendall Jenner an entire 52-page supplement (April 2016) and its precious September cover just to capitalize on her following?

Kendall Jenner covering Vogue US special issue (subscribers only_April 2016) and Vogue US September cover: in both cases only her social media following is being highlighted.

Aren’t they the one who keep on posting ridiculous articles about Hollywood’s Instagirls just for click-baiting (I mean, they even called them supermodels after a couple of runways)?
Aren’t they the ones who need to interact with these social media stars to look interesting?

For decades Vogue has relied on its prestigious reputaion to attract people and sell its magazines, however when internet came on the scene and the competition became harder, I believe it failed to fully re-invent itself.
As general audience was starting to favour blogs over magazines, instead of working on new communication strategies to outdo the bloggers' phenomenon, Vogue, as many other magazines, has simply borrowed bloggers and influencers' names and language to attract the masses, hoping by doing so to sell more copies.
And that was a terrible move if you ask me: Vogue was designed to speak to a niece, to attract the masses they basically started to lose on quality and by doing so they only ended up losing their main readers. 
Why? Because the people they are tring to attract are not really interested in their product, therefore they won't subscribe to a magazine just because their favourite celebrity was featured once on the cover. 

As a blogger I want to defend the few good ones in our category: those who keep on delivering good quality and objective articles about the fashion industry and its characters and those who use their voice for good (speaking up about social issues that affects the industry for example). 

However it is impossible not to notice the averageness surrounding the fashion blogging universe: many famous style blogs have become insanely boring these days (poorly written texts, boring articles, no objective opinions…); many fashion bloggers have no knowledge of fashion (therefore they are not able to talk about the shows they have just attended); many are too self absorbed and only care about becoming famous, that's why many of them are ready to advertise whatever is brought in front of them.

Who is to blame for this? The brands of course, who by desperately looking for a cheaper form of advertise, have turned anyone with a consistent following (real and fake, btw) into a superstar. 

So if brands would start looking for quality bloggers and the editors would stop biting the hand that feeds them, I believe that we can all co-exist peacefully, and should work together to improve the fashion industry (not the opposite).

Written by: MsD

Don't judge me by the cover - Forgive the photo I chose. I will explain everything. I'm not the kind of person who writes click baiting articles, using the names of Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid. I let Vogue do that.

Castings, what are those? - I really wanted to review the Fall Winter 2016 Ready-To-Wear Balmain show. I have watched the video of the show and all the photos from the runway very carefully. My opinion? Olivier Rousteing failed once again in designing an original collection. He has rather concentrated himelf on putting in the show models with a high amount of Instagram followers or models which he is friend with. Often those two things coincide. I wonder why... 

The review - The collection presented once again all the favourite leitmotivs of the brand: waist-cinching minidresses, tight trousers, over-the-top embellishments and thigh-high boots. However this time Balmain went for a lighter color palette, showcasing total looks in pastel blue, pink and camel. Some of the designs were clearly a statement-making take on boudoir pieces from the 18th-Century, like the mini crinoline skirts (nice but not very comfortable), and the present time, with those sheer lace pants and tops trimmed with ruffles.
As I was watching the models walking down the ruway, I constantly had this image in my mind: Olivier Rousteing asking himself "would Kim Kardashian wear this?" while he was designing the clothing. I think that this was the real inspiration behind the pieces.
The styling was horrendous: bad contouring and tacky wigs. Definitely not the best Rosie Huntington-Whiteley or Lily Donaldson have ever looked. Most of all, I belive that such a messy styling took attention away from the looks. But maybe this is exactly what Olivier Rousteing wanted to get...

You see, you can trust me. I'm not click baiting: I've mentioned Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid only once so far. Well, now I made it twice. And I also mentioned Kim Kardashian. I think I'm ready to send my curriculum vitae to Anna Wintour.

Maybe I'm just a hater - I too often find myself writing articles about how Olivier Rousteing cares more about popularity than fashion. Maybe I'm just a hater. But at least I'm not presumptuous. I don't think I am the owner of the truth. So I looked for the reviews of journalists who know fashion better than I do and write for prestigious magazines.

The verdict - What does the fashion world think about the Balmain Fall Winter 2016 Ready-To-Wear fashion show? I collected some of the most popular articles and social posts about it. 

Twitter

Websites - I'll post only three photos, because by now I know everything about the Balmain fashon show.

The fashion world has always been a magnet for music artists: fashion allows them to build their image, and when the love is reciprocal it makes them powerful. Therefore it is no news to see music artists stepping out their comfort zone and venturing new professions, especially when they are household names: they design and sell us perfumes, shoes, make up products…basically they influence our shopping habits thanks to their names. And that’s the point: they do not need to actually learn a new profession, because their names are big enough to validate anything they advertise.

What happens when they actually make the next step?

Well, the current New York Fashion Week has served a major couple of experiments: Kanye West sponsored by Adidas and Rihanna sponsored by Puma. 

Ok, this is like the ultimate athleisure/urban fight.

It should be an unfair comparison given that this was Kanye 3rd collection with Adidas (‘s money) and Rihanna was just debuting her first real runway show…but at the end it was not. 

Let me explain this to you: Kanye West ultimately ended up revolutioning the NYFW show schedule for an album launch party in disguise, while Rihanna actually performed an interesting runway show.

Kanye’s Yeezy Season 3 collection was a total mess: aside being a replica of the first two collections, just with better shoes and in brighter colors, the models and the venue only served as the perfect setting for an album listening party. How clever, and I mean it both sarcastically and not.

The funniest part was served by the first family of trash tv, alias the Kardashian/Jenner clan, who made a dramatic entrance to the show wearing luxurious custom pieces designed by Balmain for Kanye’s show.
So much noise for the new album T.L.O.P. (The Life Of Pablo)? Genius (even Beyoncè used the Superbowl to advertise her upcoming Formation World Tour), but was it necessary to introduce the world to this kind of "fashion"designs for the third time in a row?

Cherry on top, Kanye dreams to design for Hermès.
Enough, let’s move to Rihanna. 

Puma must be so proud of its strategy, not only Riri built off the success of last season’s flatform creeper, but she managed to bring Puma to NYFW with a collection that has made headlines all over the world. 

The goth/grungy athmosphere of the Fenty x Puma runway show was the perfect background for a collection that definitely oozed Rihanna-inspired edginess all the way out.

Sporting jet black lips, the models walked down the mirrored runway wearing oversized hoodies, lace-up jumpsuits and dresses, sheer mesh tees and almost too daring crop tops and shorts.
Street style fashion with a gothic touch. 

Yep that is 2016’s Rihanna.

The shoe department included thigh-high boxing boots, extreme creepers, wedged booties and sporty stiletto boots.

Clearly that’s how Rihanna's dream closet looks like, however I do feel skeptic about the proportions and the wearability of some looks: maybe too much for real life? 

Well, maybe it is to early to say, let the sales talk by themselves, besides I guess I have found my uniform for the ANTI World Tour.

Written by: Stella

Mobility is the main feature of these days: we are always connected; thanks to social media, we can see what our friends, our colleagues or our schoolmates are doing - whenever and wherever.

Obviously, we share only our best moments on Facebook &co; the result: a daily hype of optimism and enthusiasm, which has a deep impact on the perception of ourselves and our lives. Have you ever thought: my life sucks, while scrolling someone’s Instagram?
That’s exactly the FOMO, the Fear of Missing Out, the anxiety to be social, to get likes and to show the best side of you.

Of course this idyllic image is completely fake, and it could happen that when you get tired of being fake, you decide to quit social media: it is the case of Essena O’Neill - the Australian model who broke free of her addiction to likes and comments by her followers.
(For the record, her action were too dramatic and she kept her Instagram up with edited captions, yes, but still: she’s accumulating followers. Was the “social media rehab” fake too? Draw your own conclusion).

When it comes to models and fashion industry, the pair being social and money is directly proportional. Casting directors will ask for models or influencer with a huge amount of followers to reach their audience, whether actual or not. And to get the best, you have to pay a lot: the three most highly ranked supers on social - Cara Delevingne, Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid - are currently valued between $125,000 and $300,000 for a single post across their portfolio: they earn more per post than their normal day rate!

Posting pictures of their every day lives, they monetize their images and create a personal digital brand: the more followers a model has, the more they can be appealing to the fashion industry, which can use their social profiles as advertising channels. For this new breed of models, the fact of being social is sufficient to be considered talented: imagine what Kendall Jenner - with a followership of about 65 million - is capable of!

Look beyond the screen: people who lead really exciting and amusing lives would probably not spend time sharing it on social medias.