There may be limited seating at New York Fashion Week, but brands know that beyond the celebrities, fashion publications and industry moguls, there’s one group of tastemakers that is vital to let in — fashion influencers.
While there are hundreds of fashion bloggers, only a select few provide a glimpse into the world of fashion week with the eye of a professional photographer and the sense for trends of a fashion critic. While some serve to track the best looks from both the runway and the street, others use their blogs and social media accounts to show their personal style or provide analysis on the latest industry offerings. It helps that in many cases, these individuals are gifted garments from designers in exchange for sponsored posts about the brand or the chance for these style icons to be photographed at shows.
Below are some of the standout influencers, with the largest followings on Instagram.
We Wore What, 1.5 million Instagram followers
New York native Danielle Bernstein’s blog started as a source for daily outfit inspiration and casual street style looks before leading to the vast following it has today. Now her largely image-driven site shares her latest looks with blurbs on style tips, reporting from fashion hubs around the world.
Her fashion week coverage over the years includes posts like “Fashion Week Survival” — which includes advice on important items to bring along to shows, like oil blotting sheets and an extra pair of comfortable shoes — in addition to her street style looks. Bernstein has also been transparent about the monetization of her popular Instagram account, for which she was making upwards of $15,000 for a sponsored post in 2015.
Life With Me, 617,000 Instagram followers
Life With Me was started by former TV host Marianna Hewitt as a platform to share style and beauty tips, as well as share her personal travel adventures. She complements her blog with her successful YouTube following of more than 200,000 followers that tune in for beauty and style tutorials.
A photo posted by Marianna Hewitt (@marianna_hewitt) on
Hewitt told Harper’s Bazaar her fashion week strategy is typically to post a photo of what she was wearing or a favorite look from a show she was attending, but she also does Instagram takeovers for brands or media outlets.
“I attend shows backstage before to look at beauty trends and see how hair and makeup is done and meet with the teams,” Hewitt told Harper’s Bazaar before New York Fashion Week in 2015. “I went backstage at Tibi, where I saw beautiful manicures with half moons in pastel colors that I wouldn’t have been able to spot from my seat.”
Style Du Monde, 306,000 Instagram followers
Style Du Monde, founded by Belgium photographer Acielle Tanbetova in 2008, sticks to street style imagery, with a series of single shot posts taken from outside shows she attends around the world. In addition to the major fashion spots like New York, London, Milan and Paris, Tanbetova also covers smaller shows in cities including Moscow and Tbilisi.
Like many bloggers that make it to the big leagues, Tanbetova was working a finance job and shooting street style in her spare time before making the permanent transition to professional photography in 2012. Now she uses the blog as an outlet from her work as a contributor for Vogue and The New York Times, where her photos are published frequently.
“Street style and fashion photography in general feels like the perfect combination for me,” Tanbetova recently told HypeBeast. “You really need to love and have a passion for both fashion and photography. It’s not as glamorous as it may look to the outside world. It’s hard work.”
Fashion Vibe, 141,000 Instagram followers
When Barcelona-based Zina Charkoplia isn’t posting about fashion, she’s sharing images from her jaunts around the world. (Which ultimately lead her to many of the global fashion shows.)
Designed as a personal blog, Fashion Vibe is filled with photos from her experiences in New York, London, Paris and Milan, including outfits of the day, links to shop her looks and updates from shows she attended. In February she shared the challenges of enduring New York winter while trying to stay stylish on her way to shows for Lacoste and Herve Leger. Most of her posts are translated into both English and Spanish for her readers.
A photo posted by Z I N A C H A R K O P L I A (@zinafashionvibe) on
The Glamourai, 136,000 Instagram followers
A self-proclaimed “webzine,” The Glamourai describes itself as “part fashion blog, part glossy mag, part fantasy travel portal.” Its fashion coverage includes full editorials and written pieces, as well as outfit inspiration, “industry insiders” and mood boards that highlight up-and-coming trends.
The Glamourai is the side hustle of Kelly Framzel, a multimedia director based in New York City, who has worked with clients like Tiffany & Co., Rachey Ford and Gucci. For fashion week, her coverage largely involves street style, including most recently how to stay warm in February’s coldest event in New York history.
