| BrandsBoutique |
| BrandsBoutique Online Shop: Despite the recent grumblings about the handbag bubble bursting, we all know that the “it-bag” still reigns supreme. BrandsBoutique.com is for the fashionista who knows that building your handbag collection isn’t just about carrying the latest designer craze but about being a true handbag connoisseur. The site not only features a different designer handbag daily but also includes articles that discuss all things handbags, from handbag fads to tips on properly cleaning your handbag.
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| DesignersLA |
| DesignersLA Online Shop: A great blog dedicated to honoring Los Angeles-based designers, DesignersLA.com features the handbag and accessories from some of the hippest designers in LA. From household names like Juicy Couture and Rachel Pally to smaller labels like Circa Studio and Bells & Whistles, whether you reside in LA land or not, you are sure to love this site detailing all the glitz and glamour that is LA fashion. Plus the site features particular items at a discount prices.
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| LuxuryVintage |
| LuxuryVintage Online Shop: Ever since Hollywood starlets have started showing up on the red carpet in vintage gowns and accessories, vintage handbags and accessories are back in a big way. For those who admire the classic lines of fashion past, then LuxuryVintage.com is for them. Each day the blog features a different vintage designer handbag and accessory, from coveted designers like Chanel and Hermes to one-of-a-king jewelry, vintage groupies will love the looks and the off-retail prices. |
| ItalysOutlet |
| ItalysOutlet Online Shop: Shopping for Italian Designer handbags and accessories has never been this easy. ItalysOutlet features all the major Italian Designer brand names you have grown to love: Gucci, Fendi, Etro, Versace, Moschino, Dolce & Gabbana, Ferragamo, Bottega Veneta, Prada and many more. Plus, pay outlet prices. Never pay full price when shopping at ItalysOutlet for high quality Italian leather and fabrics. |
| ValueBags |
| ValueBags Online Shop: Created for the budget conscious consumer who wants to carry a high-quality designer handbag but doesn’t want to spend a fortune, ValueBags.com highlights a different designer handbag each day (Fab Bag of the Day), from designers like Coach, Dooney & Bourke and BCBG, all at below-retail prices. The blog also features coupon codes and links back to the particular featured handbag.
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| Fashion's link to blogs |
| Monday, March 10, 2008 |
As online writers gain an audience, companies see a marketing toolBy Pilar Conci
Columbia News ServiceJohanna Cox, a 27-year-old analyst for a defense contractor in Washington, D.C., spends her free time writing in her blog, called "A serious job is no excuse." As her site explains, she gives fashion advice to professional women who work in the nation's capital and "who think their serious jobs are a valid excuse for dressing the ill-fitted, office-inappropriate, comfort-first way females in this city tend to dress." To help these style-challenged women, Cox makes suggestions for skirts, tops, dresses, handbags and shoes. She includes the designer, the retailer and, of course, the link to the company's Web site, where users can buy the item in a matter of minutes. For the busy fashionista, the site is like having an electronic personal stylist. But increasingly for retailers, blogs such as the one Cox writes are a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Fashion companies, from established labels to indie designers, are looking more and more to blogs as a marketing tool that allows them to establish a new relationship with their customers and to advertise their products. But the cozy relationship among some of these blogs and retailers raises concerns about their independence.Industry experts say that fashion houses are drawn to blogs for several reasons. At a time when the choices for consumers multiply by the hour, finicky shoppers feel more inclined to buy from someone they trust, and that is just the kind of effect blogs have on their regular visitors.Also, by advertising or promoting merchandising through a blog, companies can sell a glamorous image like the ones on the glossy pages of top magazines, at a much lower cost.
"Blogs led to an increase in sales in companies, especially in fashion," said Justin Stefano, one of the founders and the executive director of Refinery29, a digital fashion publication. One reason is that bloggers find out about fashion opportunities faster than they used to, Stefano said.Companies don't want customers just looking at these blogs. They want them to speak out about how they feel about a particular skirt, top or pair of stilettos. A blog makes possible a spontaneous, candid reaction that can be as valuable as pricey market research.
"Fashion blogs are a huge new marketing trend and have created a new way in which companies can 'read' the public reaction to their latest collection, campaign, etc.," said Sherri L. Koetting, co-founder and principal of MSLK Graphic Design.Blogger Daniel Saynt, president of Fashion Indie Media, a group that promotes young designers, said: "I write a post about a designer's collection and immediately you see posts from people that say I agree with you or not."
However, there are some concerns about the trustworthiness of the bloggers. If what defines them is their independence and honesty, the close relationship bloggers develop with the retailers and the expensive gifts some of them receive raise questions about their credibility over time.For example, Elisabeth Fourmont, the woman behind "La Coquette," was one of the bloggers invited to the opening of the new Gucci store in New York recently. She was flown in from Paris, where she lives.She posted an entry on her blog about her trip and told readers that she'd been given an $800 Gucci handbag, free.
"I'm thinking about putting it on top of my toilet, like people do with their Oscars, to play down the majesty," she wrote.Fourmont did not respond to e-mailed questions about the posting, but Stefano thinks that there is no danger for the bloggers to lose credibility."They are a very savvy bunch," he said. "They tend to be very independently minded. They might go to those parties and take those handbags, but in the end what keeps their content relevant is that independence."Stefano said that the blogger community keeps the members honest and that if readers feel that a certain blogger's content is compromised, the blogger loses traffic.Susie Bubble, a blogger and freelance journalist who runs the blog StyleBubble, says she is contacted daily by fashion companies and designers who ask her to review items because they value her opinion.
"The general rule is I don't feature anyone who I don't genuinely like and feel is appropriate for Style Bubble," she wrote in an e-mail. "I don't really accept free samples either with obligations to write about things."But in some cases, designers or retailers contact blogs directly to help them market their products.On Valentine's Day, for example, Glam Chic, a blog associated with Glam.com, tried to console readers who didn't have a significant other to celebrate with by linking to an offer for "retail therapy." The promotion was offered by Yoox, a multi-brand virtual boutique, and it suggested exchanging a Valentine for a Valentino in an online sample sale.
Companies also directly advertise in blogs. Some groups even connect the bloggers with the retailers that want to advertise in them.One of these is Glam Media, a publisher network of more than 400 lifestyle sites and blogs that caters to a national and international female audience. The group distributes advertising among the blogs that are part of the network, explains Lane Buschel of Morris + King Company, which handles the public relations for Glam Media in New York.Bloggers don't always look to the high-powered fashion houses for material for their blogs. In the-coveted.com, the blogger, who lives in San Francisco, announced that she's moving to Europe and is selling her wardrobe. She posted pictures of herself wearing the clothes. Clicking on the pictures gives users a link to e-Bay, where a tweed coat or a dress is going for a decidedly unfashionable but attention-grabbing $9.99. Labels: designer fashion brands, fashion blogs |
posted by Give Me Something to Blog About @ 9:38 PM   |
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CoCo Chanel
