Virtual style gurus

Internet fashionista's were once regarded as little more than minor blips on the radar of the fashion world's powers that be. The International Herald Tribune's Jackie Cooperman recounts the tale of Julie Benlevi, who attended a beauty event for editors at Henri Bendel in New York and was rudely refused the product samples by a pr woman, because these were saved " for editors at big magazines, like Vogue". They say the best revenge is living well and these days Benlevi, creator of julib.com, is no longer confronted by such insults. In fact, she now receives invitations to the best events and no longer has to stand in the back at the fashion shows. This appears to be the case for an increasing amount of web-based fashion journalists.

According to Cooperman, web fashionistas are becoming increasingly prevalent. In an industry that is all about being on the cusp of breaking news and communicating it to the public as quickly as possible, web-based fashion writers are in exactly the right spot.

Founder of DailyCandy.com, Dany Levy, is a former editor at New York magazine, Self and Lucky. She now oversees 20 employees who cover news in a variety of cities in the US. They cover a wide range of eclectic news, which has attracted the attention of a number of blue-chip companies like Jeep, Nike and Apple who sponsor the site. Diesel has been advertising on the site of another fashion site, hingmag.com. Will Lebens, who manages Diesel's online advertising, says:" Fashion sites are an excellent medium through which to communicate with our audience, beyond the simple branding of magazine and print ads. This is the real beauty of online. Users have the option to open a dialogue with the brand."

Even the established magazines like Vogue are now following the trend with email newsletter through their own sites. Janet Ozzrd, strategist editor at New York magazine, says: "These sites feed and augment the apetite for fashion ina way that's tremendous and growing."

Don't you agree?