Teen-focused mass brands and retailers have boasted souped-up websites for years, but the wise ones are also targeting blogs in their marketing efforts. One of the first campaigns for Quiksilver's new women's contemporary brand featured a gaggle of SoCal's independent fashion bloggers as models on the company website.
"Blogs are the new wave of marketing," said Catlin Rawling, marketing manager for Quiksilver's women's division. "We want to start forming those relationships and inviting them to events. These bloggers are reaching all these girls we're trying to reach ourselves."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday, June 09, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 25 words Type of Material: Correction
Fashion blogger's name: Freelance writer and blogger Erin Magner's last name was misspelled as Manger in an article about fashion websites in Sunday's Image section.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, June 14, 2009 Home Edition Image Part P Page 2 Features Desk 1 inches; 27 words Type of Material: Correction
Fashion blogger's name: Freelance writer and blogger Erin Magner's last name was misspelled as Manger in an article about fashion websites in the June 7 Image section.
The bloggers featured in the campaign are part of a groundswell of model-esque young SoCal fashion fanatics who post photos of their daily outfits online -- creating a kind of wardrobe diary. Among them, Taghrid Chaaban (see accompanying story); Rachel Nguyen (thatschic.net), a 19-year-old Orange Coast College student whose blog's motto is, "All you need is love, but a glossy Vogue is a glorious substitute"; and Krystal Simpson (whatisrealityanyway.blogspot.com), a 26-year-old professional model and Chloe Sevigny twin whose photos look as if they were ripped out of Nylon magazine. Krystal Simpson
The sites are thin on commentary, but fat with fashion experimentation and unadulterated enthusiasm -- something fashion insiders can hardly ever muster.
Still, these are niche destinations for a narrow audience -- namely, other fashion-obsessed young women.
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When the focus shifts to harder fashion news, the number of voices drops. But those who have embraced the task of digging it up and disseminating it have found a ready audience.
Racked LA, which is owned by the Curbed Network in New York, has quickly become an authority on all things retail in L.A. since launching in April last year -- stalking empty lots and storefronts in hot pursuit of the next retail opening.
At Racked, getting the goods first has always been top priority. "The speed of how things get disseminated is what makes blogs stand out," said Erin Manger, a freelance blogger for the site. "We'll have a notice for a sale up within five minutes of hearing about it."
Former Racked LA editor Tasha Nita Adams, who often scooped major fashion publications during her time there, now runs the site Blackburn and Sweetzer(blackburnand sweetzer.com), reporting on retail and fashion news in the high-traffic shopping neighborhood sprawls from 3rd Street to Melrose Avenue near the Beverly Center in L.A. "I think people are looking for something that speaks to them and is very specific," Adams said.
