The Business of Fashion

Fashion 2.0 | Fashion156 speaks out

Guy Hipwell, the stylist-cum-entrepreneur behind Fashion156, is carving out a space as one of the UK's pioneers of fashion on the Internet. Yesterday, Guy teamed up with two of his contributors, Susie Bubble (interviewed on the BoF back in November) and Elliot James Sainsbury, to share their fashion Internet experiences at the Apple Store in London. The event coincided with the launch of Fashion156's latest issue, appropriately titled, "The Fashion on the Internet Issue."

My biggest takeaway was that the future for fashion editorial -- both online and offline -- is healthy and promising.  Integral to the fashion industry is the telling of stories, communicating about brands and inspiring debate and discussion. While the Internet has broken down traditional fashion industry walls, there is still a clear demand for traditional fashion content as well.

BoF Recommends | The TED talks

We have recently become addicted to a series of videos from TED -- or, Technology, Entertainment and Design -- an annual conference where passionate people descend on Monterrey, California to listen to other passionate people, each of whom are given 18 minutes to give the talk of their lives. The idea is that the best ideas will spread, by sheer virtue of the combined influence of all of the mavens and connectors in the room.

The notion of the idea virus also happens to be at the core of Seth Godin's expertise. Godin gave this prescient talk at TED in February 2003 and declared to the world's leading thinkers: "No matter what we do for a living, we're in the fashion business!" 

Q&A: A conversation with Susie from Style Bubble

Susie Bubble is one of the most recognisable, most respected and most widely-read fashion bloggers in the world. Her quirky style suggestions, honest reviews and friendly voice make her blog a must-read for thousands of women everyday.  To use Malcolm Gladwell's vocabulary from his best-selling book, The Tipping Point, Susie is the ultimate maven, and the blog has provided the perfect platform from which to share her expertise.

Not surprisingly, fashion brands, online fashion media and ecommerce retailers have been looking to get in on the action. Banner ads have recently begun to appear on her site from the likes of Net-a-Porter and Diesel. Susie is regularly invited to conferences and events so others can draw upon her expertise.  Almost by accident, this London-based style expert has turned her passion for fashion into a bonafide business. 

The BoF caught up with Susie to understand a bit more about the genesis of the Style Bubble, get her views on the business of blogging, and find out the pros and cons of monetising a fashion blog.