The Quintessence of Fashion Journalism

Fashion Journalists, today, are creating a massive wave in the industry. In a way, as journalists, these individuals voice their opinions on different areas of fashion giving us readers a chance to be exposed to the different walks of this creative industry. In the present generation, we stand in a world dominated by the existence of new media and needless to say, it takes over practically everything. People now can read up on the latest trends and celebrity fashion with a simple swipe of their thumb on a screen. With so much going on, is it possible to have a voice that is unique enough; a voice that attracts a vast majority of people?

Below are enlisted five fashion journalists who seem to be heading the game.

PERNIA QURESHI

Pernia Qureshi is one of India’s leading stylists and fashion icon. She is popularly known for her e-commerce venture “Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop” that had widely influenced the idea of net-a- porter fashion within the Peninsula. She is also currently the editor in chief for Glamour Magazine, a celebrity lifestyle and fashion publication that is the third widely sold fashion magazine in India after Vogue and Elle.

Having started her career in law, she later shifted to her inner calling towards fashion. By working internships in major fashion magazines in New York and as an assistant stylist in New York for Ann Caruso and as a contributing editor at Harper’s Bazaar, she developed her expertise in the field.

Pernia's website concentrates on delving clear information primarily on details regarding where one can purchase a particular fashion article. Her extensive inventory of fashion trends that one can purchase and her picks on what a customer can style themselves with is her forte. Followers are given a transparent platform with her stylist background and that is what attracts them as readers.

Pernia has grown to become a thriving model as well as an entrepreneur, but still does not avoid the opportunities to give out fashion advice and trend updates on her blog. She covers a wide area in fashion running stories from the latest runway fashion, to trendy street wear and to her personal picks in what is fashionable today. Her soft approach and her articles on how to emulate a certain celebrity’s fashion look through readily available dresses, makes her a relatable icon. Also, she covers couture lines and always gives a positive outlook on trends and forecasts. There is never a critique that can be found in her way of writing.

SUSANNA LAU

Susie Lau or better known as Susie Bubble is a well known fashion blogger based in the UK. Born in 1983, she began her career in blogging in 2006 while working simultaneously as a contributing editor of Dazed Digital at Dazed and Confused. After resigning from her job in 2010 to concentrate completely on her blog “Style Bubble”, she takes the path of a fashion enthusiast or what she personally likes to identified as a “fashion outsider”.

Her blog takes on whimsical style with a touch of eccentricity offers all the details one would need to know about London’s platform of new, edgy and fresh off the canvas fashion artists. The way Susie writes attracts her readers by using a subtle sense of humor and uses a personal touch. Her blog includes an F.A.Q section that connects her to her readers. This portion is specifically interesting as this is where she uses that humorous persona in order to express herself as a fashion style blogger.

Her blog relates to a unique group of fashion enthusiasts and those who tilt towards the artsy side of it. Her daring and unique sense of description gives her followers a laid back and wistful journey into her "bubble".

CATHY HORYN

Best known fashion critic of The New York Times and celebrated journalist Cathy Horyn can be better recognized for her witty and educated research behind what constitutes the fashion industry. Horyn began in 1986 working for The Detroit News and later moved on to The Washington Post in 1990. Horyn, then worked as fashion critic for The New York Times beginning in 1998, also contributing to massive fashion publications such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and Harper’s Bazaar.

The New York Times is always a stage for honesty and with every article, there is an evident bluntness that accompanies the movement which gives the publication its identity. Cathy Horyn has succeeded in advocating that idea and is primarily well identified with her style of writing. Her straight forward punches and personal opinions were a cause of feuds with some of fashion’s head designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Giorgio Armani and Hedi Slimane for Yves St Laurent.

Cathy Horyn fits the bill of the NY Times writer, and is someone who isn't afraid to publicize an opinion that may or may not be in the public's favor. Yet, she still manages to have a set of loyal followers who support her intent of writing. In the world of criticism, Horyn takes a high stance and that in itself has created a unique identity for her in the field of fashion journalism.

Currently the journalist handles the “On The Runway” blog for The New York Times.

SHEREEN SIKKA and KAYAAN CONTRACTOR

This fashion blogging duo known by their eponymous website “Love and Other Bugs”, are native to Mumbai. They started efficiently blogging and using other social media websites such as Instagram and Twitter in 2013, in order to spread their name. Today, with nearly 7000 followers each on Instagram and with 30,000 odd visitors to their online website makes them one of the fast growing fashion critics in India.

The pair has very opposite senses of styles and this contributes positively to their style of writing. For them, fashion is more of story which is the attracting nature of their blogs. Ranging from stories about their travels to backstage drama at fashion weeks, offers their readers a sense of low key fashion gossip. Also, they are a pair that emphasizes on the growth of new age designers and post excerpts of their styling adventures.

They offer their readers short written quips and concentrate mostly on their photographs documenting on what they’re wearing. They would like to consider their website as more of a “look book” for their followers and that’s how they get people interested in what their wearing. As much as they love reporting about designer fashion, a large part of their blogs focuses on hipster-esque 20-somethings fashion that instigates their viewers to have a unique identity and cultivate creative expression through clothes you can just about find anywhere.

TERI AGINS

Another seasoned journalist to the group, Teri Agins is an effective critic who is presently working for the Wall Street Journal ever since 1989. It has been her forte to look at fashion from a business perspective which only makes it apt to call her a “fashion reporter”, as the term “journalist” seems to show a very generalized light. In 1999, Agins was known to publish her first book, The End of Fashion: How Marketing Changed the Clothing Industry Forever.

She often writes about the vanity behind the veal of celebrity wear and she offers a hard opinion stating the hype caused by celebrity fashion who use their leverage as a way to indulge followers into buying what Agin’s calls “saleable laundry”. Her second book, published in 2014, examines the rise of fast fashion, the power of online shopping, the influence of social media and the rise of celebrity designers in the fashion and retail clothing industry.

The angle Agins uses is that of a clever one and is not one to bow down to celebrity brands. Her readers admire her reporting fashion as Agins is one to offer a well read perspective on the concept of fashion, rather than the field of fashion itself. Today, she can be seen a lot of “how-to” articles for The Wall Street Journal, such as “How to dress formally for a beach wedding” and “How to keep step in your high heels”. These articles primarily focus on providing useable information to her readers without having to expose to them the side of fashion that is filled with couture and pocket burning aesthetic, which from a different perspective of fashion journalism is creditable.

Citations

www.perniaspopupshop.com, “Pernia Qureshi Consultancy Pvt. Ltd”, Company Profile, Web, 8th September 2015, http://www.perniaspopupshop.com/about

blog.perniaspopupshop.com, “Pernia’s Picks”, Web, 8th September 2015, http://blog.perniaspopupshop.com/tagged/pernias-picks

stylebubble.co.uk, “FAQ”, Web, 8th September 2015, http://stylebubble.co.uk/faq

stylebubble.co.uk, “Trying on Savage Beauty for Size”, Web, 8th September 2015, http://stylebubble.co.uk/style_bubble/2015/04/trying-on-savage-beauty-for-size.html

www.businessoffashion.com, “Cathy Horyn – BoF 500”, Web, 8th September 2015, http://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/cathy-horyn

stylista.com, Shamita Kadle, “Blogger Spotlight : Love and Other Bugs”, Published 14th July 2014, Web, 8th September 2015, http://stylista.com/blog/2014/07/14/streetstylista-love-bugs/

www.loveandotherbugs.com, “Look Book”, Web, 8th September 2015, http://www.loveandotherbugs.com/category/lookbook/

thehistorymakers.com, “Biography of Teri Agins”, Web, 8th September 2015, http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/teri-agins

www.wsj.com, “Articles by Teri Agins”, Web, 8th September 2015, http://topics.wsj.com/person/A/teri-agins/6488