“Fashion is totally cool, porn is totally cool”

Fashion and porn, maybe not two words you’d think would be synonymous with each other, however at the first ever Stylight Fashion Blogger Conference (SFBC) one of our speakers, Carl Jakob Haupt from ‘Dandy Diary’, explained how the two worked very well together, having made the world’s first “fashion porno” back in 2012, but more about that later.

Wanting to provide a platform for everyone from the entire fashion industry spectrum, we founded the SFBC. With top bloggers and industry professionals gathered in the MBFW tent, we delved into the world of digital branding. Our very own Marianne Kraai, head of our Influencer Agency, started the discussion with why online Influencers have become an integral part of the digital world and how Stylight can be both your “matchmaker” and “wingman” when it comes to partnering the best online influencers and brands.

First Stylight Fashion Blogger Conference at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week venue in Berlin.

Next we heard from the other side of the coin, blogger Alexandra Pereira, of the Spanish blog ‘Lovely Pepa’, covered the origins of her blog; starting with just 286 followers in 2009 and reaching the dizzying heights of more than 3.5 million in 2014. She also gave us some insight into innovative ways brands can approach blogger collaborations and how she hopes to build her blog further with more creative and unusual ventures in the future. German blogger Carl Jakob Haupt, one half of ‘Dandy Diary’, gave us a male perspective on the blogger community, stating that ‘Dandy Diary’ was born of a need for a heterosexual view point on men’s fashion. His blog rose to prominence after the creation of a “fashion porno”, an opening event to Berlin’s January 2012 fashion week, inviting the fashion elite to a small sex shop for its premiere. Using the mantra “sex sells”, the media coverage of the event was colossal, actually causing the ‘Dandy Diary’ site to firstly crash, and then be shut down by the German authorities under child protection laws. As they say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity and Haupt’s blog’s popularity skyrocketed, giving him the opportunity to now make a living from the site. Both bloggers, though very different, emphasised how important digital branding is, and how they are looking to help both their own ventures, and those of the brands they partner with, grow.

“Don’t be like a tourist in a new city only scratching the surface!”

We concluded the conference with a panel discussion which included all the speakers so far, plus Lisa Heckl, journalist and Sky Deutschland host, and Daniel Fürg, author and founder of the digital media blog ‘Social Secrets’. Clawing over social media versus traditional media, the debate was heated with all sides weighing in, however it became clear that all agreed the two opposing mediums will eventually have to work together, to complement the coverage of news and enhance the user’s experience.

Panel Discussion with Jakob Haupt, Lisa Heckl, Marianne Kraai, Hadnet Tesfai, Daniel Fürg, Alexandra Pereira und Maria Cordero.

The conference proved that fashion bloggers are no longer hobby journalists, sat in their bedroom typing away articles for just for themselves; they are smart, vivacious young men and women running their own small businesses who can add serious value to a brand or campaign. So, in the words of Marianne, don’t be like a tourist in a new city only scratching the surface of what’s there, use a guide, such as the Influencer Agency, and make the most of each (digital) opportunity.