Fashion bloggers get agents

F

ollowing FashionUnited stories on the rise of street style photographers and bloggers, further developments are happening for this new creative category. Now, if you are a blogger casting style influence, snapping everyday fashionista’s

as they pass you by and imprinting your own opinion on anything and everything, you require an agent to represent you. It seems to be the result of a top host of bloggers who are constantly being asked to give talks, model clothes for their blog followers and attend events, and are unsure how to proceed negotiating fees, whilst maintaining good relations.

So a new role has emerged for blogger agents who act just like literary agents but now broker endorsement deals with fashion labels, sign up advertisers and sometimes bag lucrative television commercials and cameos, and then take approximately a 15% fee.

The advent of agents who specialize in fashion bloggers points to the evolving influence of blogs. Once considered fashion-obsessed amateurs, style bloggers have matured into tastemakers and savvy marketers who can command four- and five-figure fees from brands. Even mainstream agencies are joining the action. This spring, the popular blogger Bryanboy signed with Creative

Artists Agency, a Hollywood firm better known for representing A-list actors like George Clooney. The rise and rise of the blogger influence cannot be ignored. If previously they were paid in free clothes or not at all, now they, arguably, are “right up there with editors in helping to mold what the consumer is going to buy,” said Alexis Borges, director of Next Model Management, an international modelling agency.

Indeed beyond blogging, they can also garner attention through selling ad spaces on their sites, writing sponsored posts, and creating design collaborations. Nor are big, established brands shy of working with this new breed of influencers. Gap, DKNY, Reiss and Sunglass Hut are all examples of retailers who have used bloggers in campaigns, store talks and in competitions.

Photo and video: Blogger Bryan Boy