Sadly we have reached the end of LFW… not London Fashion Blog Week though, oh no, there are still a few more posts to be read, but the last scheduled show was at 5 o’clock and I’m feeling kind of sad about it. I decided being a blogger, I had to touch upon the whole ‘should bloggers go to Fashion Week’ topic during these series of posts. I have a little helper too, I asked Lela from Lela London a few questions which was quite interesting, so thanks Lela!

Just to clear it up, Fashion Week is an ‘industry event’ which I believe is a vital bit of information for this controversial subject. Fashion Week was created so that designers could showcase their work to members of the press, buyers and celebrities etc. It’s a way for designers to get their collections seen by important and respected people. The event is also a way of celebrating fashion, culture and design from artists based in the set city. We mainly focus on the bigger cities and capitals like New York, London, Milan and Paris, but you have to remember there are smaller, perhaps more local events held all around the world.

The first New York Fashion Week, or ‘NYFW’, was held in 1943. I put this in bold because again I believe this is a vital bit of information. In fact around the same time there was an event called ‘Press Week’ which was essentially just the same thing as Fashion Week and it was exactly what it says on the tin. A collection of shows which members of the press could attend to.

Bloggers at LFW – #1 – #2 – #3 – #4 

In 1943 there were no bloggers (who knew?!…), it was simply photographers, editors, journalists etc… ‘members of the press’… people who put the content into magazines and newspapers. These people were all part of the fashion industry, they all made a huge input to the fashion world, and this is where I believe we get stuck. Do bloggers make an input to the fashion industry? My answer is simply, yes.

Bloggers like Tanya Burr have great followings and can sell out dresses and shoes from high street stores in an instant… that is already a staggering impact. If people like Tanya are seen at a fashion show, people will be interested. Followers and readers will want to know their opinions, their likes and dislikes about the upcoming collection, because they trust them. Even bloggers like myself make a small contribution because if I tweet about a show and someone agrees, I have started a conversation… that’s what magazines and newspapers do after all.

What is your personal opinion on bloggers attending shows?
Lela: No real opinion! If they are right for the show, a great supporter of the brand, or offer something special from a PR-angle, nothing else should matter.

When people say that bloggers have a ‘privilege’ to attend LFW, I tend to disagree with them. In this day and age, bloggers. play. a. role. They do make a contribution to what’s going on. I understand it if a blogger doesn’t do any form of review or feature of a collection, and just posts about their outfits, I understand that, totally. The major factor that we ignore is that (some) bloggers are living their life off of their blog… just like photographers, journalists etc. It’s their job.

Before blogging did you ever want to experience a fashion week, and more specifically did you want to experience LFW?
Lela: Yes! As I started off as a fashion stylist (between seasons), starting my blog seemed to be the reason I was invited over my actual work! Then though it was originally just a hobby!

Do you think it is important for bloggers to have a great knowledge of fashion and designers to be able to attend fashion week?
Lela: At least enough to produce a great review or photographs. Expert status is few and far between – its primarily about taste and publicity potential.

One of the points I do agree with though, is the playground, childish side of things… the bragging. Bloggers need to realise themselves that they are making an impact and that this is what they do if they want to be part of fashion. Getting multiple tickets to shows isn’t a way to show how great and popular you are, it’s just a way of designers and their PR team of telling you that they want you to blog about the next collection. Obviously it is exciting to attend a show of a respected designer, but you aren’t there to just sit and watch the world go by and have people think you are ‘cool’, you are there to interpret what you are seeing, you are there to tell people what each collection is all about and of course what people should expect for the next season.

What do you think? Should the amount of bloggers attending be limited, or should they even be allowed to attend at all? You tell me! Leave a comment below, I love to hear your opinions 😀