!The Silver age of Mediterranean fashion blogging.!A comparative analysis of the Italian and Spanish blogosphere!

!Marco Pedroni, Università eCampus, Italy

Teresa Sádaba, ISEM, Spain Patricia SanMiguel, ISEM, Spain

!Fashion Tales 2015 | Università Cattolica of Milan, 18-20 June 2015

Introduction: Is the Golden Era of FB over?

Theoretical background

• The rise of literature about fashion blogging: Berry 2012; Chittendon 2010; Connell 2013; Khamis and Munt 2010; Kretz 2010; Lewis 2013; Luvaas 2013; Pedroni 2014; Pham 2011, 2013; Rocamora 2011, 2012, 2013; Rocamora and Bartlett 2009

• A special issue of Fashion Theory (2015, vol. 19 issue 2) entitled ‘Analyzing Fashion blogs’ edited by A. Rocamora and E. Mora

Theoretical background

• The evolution of fashion blogs (Findlay 2015): • First wave (2004-06): personal style blogging as a

subgenre of blogging; INDEPENDENCE • Second wave (2008-now): consecration of personal

style bloggers by the fashion industry; ASPIRATION • The end of the Golden Era? (2014)

Fashion blogging as a field

• Metaphors: blogosphere, blogipelago, or field? • A competition based on the possession of different

resources: • Cultural capital: auto-didacticism and ‘innate’ taste • Economic capital: money, time, and geographical place • Social capital: relational networks • Symbolic capital: legitimation

The role of influentials

Two-step flow of communication model (Paul Lazarsfeld) Who are the fashion influentials? • «Re-defining Fashion Influentials in the Internet Age» (Sadaba and

SanMiguel, 2014) • Fashion opinion leaders basic categories: demographic, social and

attitudinal, and topic-based research

Fashion bloggers: key actors in the fashion sector • Influence as a key topic: consumer behavior and diffusion of new fashions • Replacement of the traditional communication channels • Unique position: Fashion Idols + Friends (credible)

Methodology

• Desk analysis: comparison of 10 Italian +10 Spanish best blogs

• Qualitative interviews: 40 in-depth interviews (Italy) + 20 semi-structured interviews (Spain) (in progress: 40+40 are expected)

• Survey: 62 Italian bloggers + 50 Spanish bloggers (in progress: 100+100 are expected)

Desk analysis

Le Guide Noir Rank - overview about the Spanish and Italian blogs. General information: • Sex: female • Blogging since: 2009 • Language: Spanish and Italian + English • Brands: Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Dior • Professions: model, fashion designer, stylists, actresses, editor… • Footprint: Spain, Italy, Greece, US

Type of posts!• Based on personal style and shopping • Catwalks • Italian bloggers: beauty, travels, and events. • Spanish bloggers: the mainly protagonists of their posts

Desk analysis

Desk analysis

Desk analysis

Qualitative analysis: highlights

• «Depth of field»: bloggers show an increasing consciousness of the history of the field (both national and international), the role of the blogs, hierarchy among bloggers

• Disenchanted view of the relation between the blogosphere and industry: Spanish bloggers and recently interviewed Italian bloggers do not emphasize their (supposed) independence

• Professionalization of the field: bloggers think in terms of editorial line

• Institutionalization and structuration of the field: first-wave blogs are perceived as being more trustworthy / blogging is taught in academic courses as a skill

Qualitative analysis: highlights

• Entrepreneurial turn: blogs are described and managed as business projects, tool of positioning and self-promotion, way of developing entrepreneurial plans

• Pragmatism: exit from the naive phase (no prejudice about gaining economic capital; no reference to blogs ad personal journals; blogger as a professional communicator)

• Agenda building and curatorial skills: content selection as the main skill of the bloggers (like the journalists)

Differences between ITA / SPA

Different state of evolution of the field: • Spanish blogging shows more confidence in the future of the field; • Spain: Italian bloggers indicated as points of reference; • Spain: complaint about the poor evolution of the Spanish field of fashion; • Spain: strong presence of aspirational bloggers («me da dinerito, todavía

no mucho») • Italy: more awareness of the role of the blogs as «media in which to

invest» • Italy: increasing role of consulting firms in promoting the bloggers

In Italy, many signals of conflicts between bloggers and journalists; in Spain, many interviewees are journalists who describe the journalist as a professional blogger

Conclusion

• The Silver era of fashion blogging • The blogs have gained a more institutionalized and

normalized role in the field of fashion • Despite the presence of many aspirational bloggers, the

field has left its «innocent» stage and the field has professionalized

• Future research: genres and specializations in the field (e.g. male and curvy blogging)

Thank youMore: !M. Pedroni, “Stumbling on the heels of my blog”. Career, forms of capital and strategies in the (sub)field of fashion blogging, Fashion Theory, 19 (2), Special issue: «Fashion Blogs», ed. by A. Rocamora e E. Mora, 2015, pp. 179-200 http://goo.gl/fy3pXN !M. Pedroni, Collaboration, Antagonism, Exploitation: Which is the Relation Between Fashion Blogging and Fashion Journalism?, in M. Torregrosa, C. Sánchez-Blanco and T. Sádaba (eds.), Digital Development in the Fashion Industry: Communication, Culture and Business, Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona (2014), pp. 87-101 http://goo.gl/6hQYoK !T. Sádaba and P. SanMiguel. “Re-defining Fashion Influentials in the Internet Age: a Spanish Case-Study based on Stylelovely.com”. Revista de Comunicación 13, 2014. !P. SanMiguel and T. Sádaba. Fashion Blog’s engagement in the customer decision making process. Handbook of Research on Global Fashion Management and Merchandising 2015. P. SanMiguel and T. Sádaba. Fashion bloggers: Key Actors in the Fashion Sector. Critical Studies in Fashion and Beauty. Intellect books UK (Expected 2015)