Whatever you would like to think or say be it that I’m a tool who is being manipulated by Gucci or that I’m an over-excited fash victim, worshipping away at the altars of the fashion hierarchy is fine by me. I’m not harping on and on about this Gucci NYC bash thing for superficial girly excitement. It is a genuinely interesting new phenomenon, designer brands reaching out to bloggers, that myself and others are experiencing and many other fashion bloggers out there may also come to terms with in the future. It is simply a case of bumbling along and saying ‘Yes’ to offers as and when I felt it was appropriate for myself and the blog and accepting that whilst free publicity may be being given to the brand, I have no agenda of selling in products nor am I here to dupe readers into buying into brands as I give them credit enough to think for themselves and take what they will from my posts about the experiences that I have at these events.
The full impact however of this Gucci NYC flagship store launch and the Help Malawi party didn’t fully hit me until I saw the Gucci Loves NY site that was launched today and quite prominently there is a section dedicated to five of us fashion ‘bloggers’. Frankly, I’m a little surprised at parts of the fellow Gucci ‘blogger’ company which were selected as representatives from Japan, US, UK, France and Asia Pacific. For a start, my pic next to Cory Kennedy’s is quite honestly surreal beyond belief. Even weirder that I don’t consider her to be a fashion blogger but rather an internet celeb verging on celeb in her own right. Fashion is Spinach is closest to my blogging heart and probably the only one that I can relate to as ‘another fashion blog’. La Coquette was one of the first few blogs that I got into and it’s a pity she doesn’t update too often but I gather she is a busy gal working in fashion. Openers hails from Japan and seems more like a very pro e-zine than a blog. Altogether, a rather curious mix of pros, amateurs and celeb (I’ll leave you to assign those categories to the list…).
People have been sending me emails asking how I get invited to such events and the truth is, I haven’t a clue, judging by the choices seen here as predetermined by Gucci and the choices at the past Chanel event. Is it traffic? Aesthetic appeal? Number of comments? Media coverage? I’m guessing it’s a combination of those things yet there is no exact science which I can describe comprehensively. This may seem like a post that would better suit IFBU but for 2008, all that needs to be said is that it will be an interesting trend to track for the fashion blogging community as a whole. Caution needs to be taken as to how far a blog aligns themselves with certain brands but from my perspective, it’s about blogging firsthand content that is enrichened and for readers to be mildly entertained (hopefully!) so let’s see what 2008 has to bring for all fashion bloggers and their interaction with brands.
Cory Kennedy is a fashion blogger… I have to giggle, that’s one of the funniest thing I heard in all that buzzdrenched “we invite the bloggers to be fast forward” marketing campaigns 🙂
This is totally epic and all but I’m just excited for you to come to NYC!
This is actually even more confusing than I would have thought. Cory Kennedy not actually being a blogger and all.
The site wasn’t designed in house if that makes anyone feel better about the strange manifestation. It was outsourced beyond the Gucci tech team so it is likely something totally random Gucci branding didn’t give a lot of thought to.
Being nominally part of the Gucci extended family thanks to Phil trust me, Gucci isn’t exactly being all that open even with their employees, the party, of the website.
just go and have fun, Susie…and don’t give this much thought.
I can’t wait to read all about it!
kisses
That is a very interesting selection. And also puzzling to be placed in the same zone and beside Cory K. I for one am glad you are selected for such things, you are certain to give us good coverage in a style your readers obviously appreciate!
Susie you should be thrilled! Go have an awesome time, you really do deserve to be there! And how excited must you be about choosing what to wear?!
I think congratulations are in order! I think it’s wonderful that you are getting recognition for your blog, it’s obvious that you put alot of hard work and thought into it. How fabulous to be invited to fashion events and get to mingle with all sorts of interesting people, and what a great opportunity. Go for it and enjoy:)
Totally bizarre! But that pic of you is fab. You’re going to have an absolute blast!
And yeah, someone didn’t do their blogging research cause Cory Kennedy’s blog is definitely not a fashion one. OOh!
You look gorgeous Susie!
how great ! everytime i have time to read your blog ( once a week) I see how much more often I should do it.
juliet xxx
oh my god i love that pic of you! you look really good. am so excited for you i for one totally share your joy.. i cant wait to read about everything. love your blog
xx
you must be jumping in joy! 🙂
Have fun, Susie! That’s a brilliant pic of you..so totally young London girl 🙂
That said, I’m a little puzzled by the Gucci contingent trying to pass Cory Kennedy off as a fashion blogger. Couldn’t they just have invited her along with the rest of the celebs, as one of them?
Perhaps she was chosen for the hipster quotient. Her blog isn’t so geared to fashion , but she has a column for Nylon…maybe that’s why? I find it simultaneously odd and logical, on the basis that gucci may want to attract a greater audience; then again any other fashion blogger who’s diversified could suffice for that.
This likely is just a hobjob comment that makes no sense. Apologies.
You’re an arbiter, S. Where else would we go to draw a bead on the hipper-than-hippest? And like it or not, you are royalty! Wear that crown with pride, girl!
Cory is exactly the type of thing I don’t read, so I’m glad that you and Spinach are (as much as I loathe this word), “representing.”
Surely CK should have been invited anyway. Still, those shades looks good Susie 🙂
Congratulations, Susie! You look absolutely fabulous.
As for CK, I guess I’m OCD about typing because whenever I stumble upon her blog, I cannot stand to finish reading anything. I guess she attracts the young hipster Gucci consumers :-P.
Brilliant for you. And absolutely right & proper too as your blog is probably the best fashion blog out there. But not exactly representative of the best in fashion blogs when you look at the others? And, to be honest, not exactly representative of Gucci as a brand either… LLG xx
I think the whole fashion e-outreach thing is fascinating too. Maybe I’m hugely pessimistic but I don’t reckon it’ll be a long term thing, at least not on this kind of scale. My one bugbear with the print side of fashion journalism is that so much is tied up with advertisers it forces magazines into a permanently reverential and uncritical position. Bloggers with integrity and the loyal following that comes with intregrity just aren’t going to toe the party line. Maybe the big fashion houses have different expectations on what the blogosphere can do for the brand – the presence of bloggers like you gives them a London underground-y cool girl cachet and spreads brand awareness to other underground-y cool girls who read your blog avidly, even if you don’t actively promote the goods. I don’t know. I think you’re right to feel cautious but equally I think you should have THE BEST TIME EVER because how often does this happen? It’s amazing! I’m genuinely looking forward to reading all about your adventures.
Becky.
If Cory is there, I’m sure we’ll be seeing pictures of you on the Cobra Snake or some other place like that soon. 😉
Anyway, have fun over there!
S., this whole “indie cred” thing stems back to the early nineties in the music biz, and it is a Gen-X debate and a ridiculous one. Going farther back, its roots are in the sixties, where the “man” (representing corporate America) was seen as corrupt and the hippies/younger generation uncorruptible and “pure” in intent, vision, and voice.
There are lots of commercial blogs out there that are run by corporations. Yours is not one of them. Nor are you being exploited by any corporation that hands you the keys to the kingdom. You are interested, motivated, and highly involved with this world–it’s not as if you were blogging about pig farming and suddenly turned up on a dais next to Madonna simply because you had the most popular pig-farming blog on the Internet.
That would be exploitation. This–Gucci (and also Chanel)– is a perfect model of WOM advertising working as it was intended. Both parties benefit. You receive something of value to you and they receive your attention.
Yet the debate rages on. I’m always sad to see certain bloggers taking on a semi-apologetic tone for accepting incentive. And yet in all cases but one I have never seen them engage in what they are accused of: selling out.
Go out and conquer the world. Take Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, too.
Inviting Cory under the banner of a “fashion blogger” absolutely undermines Gucci’s credibility. Are they serious? Her blog is completely illiterate. Surely people only read it for photos of her many outfits?
Susie > Cory. in eloquence and blog material. oh and style too… of course. Elli, I couldn’t agree with you more. This sounds really critical but i can’t stand Cory Kennedy’s syntax and she only writes about what she cool scene activities she did for the day/week/etc. Nevertheless, she has a strong following since she has a magnetic sense of style. i saw her a couple of times in l.a. before she got big, and i’ll admit i couldn’t take my eyes off her clothes. ok i’m procrastinating in my physics homework. peace.
cory kennedy blogging for gucci – this is hilarious! can’t stop laughing! have GREAT fun susie (and show them how a real fash blogger rocks)!
your blog and la coquette are two of my favorites.
it’s nice to see fashion bloggers who are humble and don’t write like they know it all get some attention from the established big names.
have a wonderful trip!
It’s true that the site was not designed by Gucci in-house, but that doesn’t mean Gucci didn’t approve everything on the site. They were going for something younger…
Thank you for your joint excitement for me…. I didn’t know the site wasn’t a Gucci in-house site… that doesn’t surprise me though…
Susie* I have confessed to my boss that what I am reading while having my coffee every morning is u’re blog…She was reading it last night and said to me today she’d love to invite you to our show* We are showing off schedule at London Fashion Week this year and this is to re-launch the label (The label was founded in 1983 and our last show was in 1999).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Eccentrics
If you could e-mail me your postal address, I would love to get you an inivite sent. Would be amazing if you could make it!
Sarah x
Congrats! That whole first paragraph went over my head. It makes sense to me that designers and companies would bring bloggers into the fold in the same way they do magazines (though I acknowledge they are very different things). It’s *marketing* with the reader still left to make up their own mind.
Have fun!