After the much-publicised sell-out success of their pre-xmas collaboration with Lanvin, high street megalith H&M has announced their next partner: Elin Kling, a Swedish fashion blogger and stylist.
Yup. The bloggers have moved from commentators to creators; gone from front row next to Anna Wintour to backstage next to Alber Elbaz in but one calendar year. We have entered The Next Stage.
Designers, be afraid. Be very, very, afraid.
Just joking – which is not to say that sometime in the near future, this shouldn’t be the case; just not yet. Ms Kling has done a collection of nine pieces and two accessories for H&M, which range from washed-leather jackets to wide-legged trousers, and they will be sold only at stores in Sweden, where she is something of a celebrity.
Interestingly, H&M is not the only fashion brand to have had the brilliant idea to transform bloggers; Bill Amberg, the British leathergoods czar, is currently collaborating on a new bag with Imran Amed, of www.businessoffashion.com. You can see the logic: successful bloggers have many thousands of dedicated followers, all of whom are potential consumers (especially as they’ve already demonstrated enough interest in fashion to bookmark a style blog). Convert them from readers to spenders and…ka-ching!
Meanwhile, the blog itself will provide a publicity boost to the collection, as the “designer” writes about the creative experience. It’s pretty clever, and relatively low-risk and low-cost. Expect these two test-cases to be watched closely. And if they work, expect bloggers everywhere to be the new celebrity designers.
Vanessa has been the FT’s fashion editor since 2003, and is based in New York, though she lived in London for 12 years.