Fashion is a visual industry that inherently translates well to video. As fashion publications continue to push content on social media and online, video has become a major priority.
The key ingredients to a successful video are hardly a secret: A charismatic host helps, preferably paired with notable celebrity guests and industry icons. Irreverent humor is also particularly effective, according to Jessica Kia, co-founder of the consultancy RJK Project who helped develop the popular Anna Kendrick video series “#missadventure” for Kate Spade’s 2015 holiday campaign.
“When [fashion publications] don’t take themselves so seriously it’s really refreshing and commendable,” Kia said. “It’s what their audience wants to see.”
At publications like InStyle, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar there is no shortage of on-screen talent: models, designers and other celebs regularly lurk the halls and are able chat about everything from their latest fashion lines to their favorite recipes.
InStyle
InStyle Magazine has a robust video section, filled with how-to beauty guides and celebrity guest stars. The site features popular videos like “What I Wish All Girls Knew” with “Quantico” actress Priyanka Chopra and a skincare guide with Jessica Alba amassing more than 20,000 views.
Among the most dynamic sections is “Back of the Cab,” an ongoing series hosted by InStyle’s fashion news director, Eric Wilson. In it, Wilson, a seasoned fashion expert and former style critic at The New York Times, gives brief reviews of fashion shows and holds interviews with notable fashion figures like Iris Apfel from the back of taxi cabs around the world.
Vogue
The Vogue video page has no dearth of celebrities. Popular videos of the moment include Taylor Swift Googling herself for part of the popular “73 Questions” series, and behind the scenes footage of Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik at a photoshoot in Italy, involving (clothed) acrobatics atop a bed.
The magazine can net as many as four million views on a given 73 Questions videos, and it also offers a number of other series, including “The Future of Fashion With Alexa Chung,” which recently won two Webby Awards. In the videos, the fashion model and television personality shares insights on the industry and chats with notable designers, journalists and educators. The videos drive close to half a million views and can be streamed on British Vogue’s YouTube channel.
Harpers Bazaar
How-to makeup videos are ubiquitous on YouTube, but Harpers Bazaar works to bring in celebrity makeup artists to share insider tricks of the trade. A recent video shows artist Rae Morris recreating some of the favorite looks of model Georgia Gowler.
Kia said how-to videos focused on increasing the ease of fashion and beauty particularly resonate with busy women: “It’s all about hacks and the way real woman approach fashion and the everyday challenges we all have opening up the closet before a day of work, school, taking care of your kids, all the way to drinks after work and dinner.”
Readers can tune into Harpers Bazaar for a variety of informative videos like “How To Cut and Style Jane Birkin Bangs,” with hairstylist Laura Polko, who tends the tresses of Olivia Munn and Poppy Delevingne, and “Two Ways To Fill In Your Brows” with Romy Soleimani. They can also see behind the scenes as models like Miranda Kerr get their haircut, which garnered more than 350,000 views.
