Marketing is pivotal to the success of a fashion brand. Whether it's a fashion house, a model, or a fashion magazine, a proper marketing strategy is necessary. Therefore, it's important to revisit and understand how fashion marketing has changed since its inception. Jeff Carvalho, Fashion Business Essentials contributor and co-founder of Highsnobiety, gives a historical overview of fashion marketing.

Fashion Marketing Back in the Day

The fashion media landscape before 2000 was quite traditional. You had fashion magazines worldwide that relied on advertising dollars from the large luxury houses. The media covered fashion news from an editorial, journalistic point of view.

Around the mid-2000s, LiveJournal and Blogger were two online platforms that were essentially developed for consumers to have personal diaries on the internet. They made it quite easy for consumers to go in and publish a story. LiveJournal and Blogger also built some of the earliest social communities. Beyond being a platform for people to write personal journals, it was an amazing platform for online fashion education.

Blogging as Social Media

WordPress, Blogspot, and Blogger allowed for images, photographs, and text similar to what you'd see in editorial magazines but told by consumers and fans instead of famous fashion editors. This is where the era of blogs in fashion began to take shape.

You started to see the influence and rise of digital media in fashion education and business. Websites like Tumblr and platforms like Highsnobiety were beginning to bring together and build communities around like-minded fashion consumers.

The rise of the influencer in the front row of fashion shows signaled that fashion was catering more to digital. Influencers speak to the mindset of today's young consumers. It's important to connect influencers and marketing to a new generation. It took quite some time for some fashion houses to accept. Those who were early adopters and allowed bloggers and social media influencers to cover their collection launches are the ones that are a step ahead in terms of reaching the next consumer.

For more information on fashion marketing and other careers in fashion, download Yellowbrick's Ultimate Fashion Career Guide.