Designers versus bloggers: this edition’s showdown pits Jay “Strut” DeMaria against Wesley Badanjak
TODAY’S MATCHUP: Fame-hungry 20-year-old hipster bloggers who can’t write are the bane of Wesley Badanjak’s existence. The LOVAS designer has blacklisted many a young airhead from his shows—and he’s just getting warmed up. On the other side, we have Jay DeMaria, also known as “Jay Strut” of Satisfashion, who feels “entitled” to a front row seat (and will do anything to get one).
When did you first start to notice the fashion blogosphere?
JS: As a fashion blogger, I follow fashion blogs religiously. When American Vogue did a fashion blogger editorial featuring the likes of Bryanboy and Hanelli, I knew that it was official!
WB: I can’t say I remember an exact time when I took notice of fashion blogs. I think the phenomenon slowly crept into my life as a designer when I would hear mention of The Sartorialist. I conducted my own investigation and started noticing how numerous these sites were, along with their extensive numbers and followers.
Is the blogging market over-saturated? How can you tell the serious contenders from the dozens of fashion bloggers out there?
JS: I do think it is a super-over-saturated market, but that is life. It is not all a bad thing, because every fashion blog is a personal opinion and an outlet, which means a different story that is a unique source of inspiration for us all. How you can tell the serious contenders from the dozens of other fashion bloggers out there is by who’s following them on Twitter—seriously! Everyone can have a blog, but only certain people connect with international fashion elite. When Stefano Gabbana is tweeting you kisses and saying he likes your blog, or a major media outlet like Refinery 29 or StyleCaster is telling you they love and follow your blog and style, that means you are on the radar and you are doing something right.
Is getting blog attention just as important as magazine exposure these days?
WB: Certain blogs are very important in influencing consumers, particularly when they have extremely strong followings. In Canada, we have great blogs like I Want I Got by Anita Clarke, and The Fashionist by Christopher Turner. These blogs have huge readerships and really can influence the general populace. However, nothing will give you the notoriety of an editorial in a top magazine.
JS: I think getting blog attention is huge for designers. People wait on magazines monthly, or however long, but blog content (runway shows, presentations) is instantly available to the masses. The right bloggers with a strong enough following can help spread a designer like wildfire.
Do you think bloggers’ ability to be so candid and honest hurts or helps your press?
JS: I feel bloggers are very rehearsed, not candid. We pre-meditate everything we do, from how we wear our outfits, to our poses for street style, down to how we mingle and project ourselves to people in any given environment. A blogger teaming with a designer can be a positive campaign.
WB: That is a tough question, as it depends on who the author is. When a respected blogger reviews your collection and may not be completely positive, you can at least say this person was being objective and working as a true journalist. When it is a 20-year-old hipster writing about how they “hate suits because they are, like, so 1980s” and “I would, like, never wear them, and he showed so many suits,” it just gets irritating and can hurt your brand’s image amongst their readers.
What justifies a blogger getting a front row seat?
WB: There are only a few bloggers who will justifiably get front row seats, and it all depends on their readership numbers, and whether they are comparable to those of print publications.
JS: This is my favourite question because it is a constant battle I face during Toronto Fashion Week. There are certain bloggers that build their blogs to become some of the strongest amongst their peers. For example, I reached 15,000 followers on Twitter. Among them are DKNY, Dolce and Gabbana, POP Magazine, but the list could go on and on. Because of the network I’ve built with my blog, I feel I am entitled to a front row seat, because with every tweet, twitpic and blog post, I am instantly sharing a designer’s collection to so many more people than a lot of the faces in the front row.
Would you be leery about inviting back a blogger that had slagged your show?
WB: I have definitely not invited certain bloggers back to my shows after reading articles that, regardless if positive or negative, were incoherent, poorly written or far too subjective.
Do you feel more freedom to be honest about shows and designers’ work (for instance, if you thought it was hideous) in the online medium?
JS: Personally, if I have nothing nice to say, I take what I’ve learnt and don’t say anything at all. I think a lot of bloggers and writers attack and make malicious remarks about a designer’s work to catch attention and generate some sort of buzz for themselves.
If you could change one thing about how fashion bloggers behave/write about/attend shows, what would it be?
JS: I wouldn’t change a thing. Bloggers are openly expressive individuals and everyone is entitled to their opinions (and actions), no matter how dramatic they may be. One thing I would change about how designers treat bloggers is, well, I wouldn’t change them, but I would change some of their PR representatives. For some bloggers, this is such a passion-driven part of their lives. We take a lot of pride in putting ourselves out there for people to see, judge and hopefully love.
WB: I think bloggers need to realize that a show is not a party or a place to hang out with friends. Fashion shows are important venues to help a designer promote their visions and create a strong brand image. Mainstream media assists us in disseminating this to the public in a manner befitting of a journalist. I expect bloggers to do the same and be respectful when reporting, whether they loved or hated what they saw.
JS: I feel bloggers are very rehearsed, not candid. We pre-meditate everything we do, from how we wear our outfits, to our poses for street style, down to how we mingle and project ourselves to people in any given environment
WB: I think bloggers need to realize that a show is not a party or a place to hang out with friends.
COULD THE CONTRASTS BETWEEN THESE TWO BE ANY BETTER???!!!
Great job, Briony.
I think bloggers should speak there minds and tell it like how it is because you don’t expect customers to understand fashion when they all want is the clothes.
I personally think fashion in Toronto is jokes because people in the Toronto market like to suck each others asses talent or not that goes for editors and magazines.
I just researched this Wesley guy and his work isn’t so high fashion at all more like retail kind of work where you can find at Wal-mart.And his work isn’t original more like a copy-cat of David dixon work or maybe they use the same tailors or something like that.I mean here he sounds like his the best designer in Toronto and very insulting when his work doesn’t even scratch a mark outside the Toronto seen.
BLOGGERS DO WHAT YOU GOT TO DO AND BRING THE NEWS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE AND NOT WHAT SOUNDS SWEET ON A DESIGNERS EAR.
Is this Jay Strut person real? I just went to the site and it’s horrendous and clearly a joke that everyone is in on… except him.
There is one thing he says that I agree with: “The right bloggers with a strong enough following can help spread a designer like wildfire.”
There are good bloggers. I follow a few of them. Just like there are good journalists. There are bloggers out there who have reach, who are reporting, who are being constructive. Then there are those who are clearly looking to steal a seat at a show, wear an ugly outfit and call themselves fashionable.
At the end of the day. Wesley Badanjak clearly wins this battle.
I think plotting designers vs bloggers like you did here is absurd. Bloggers, as flamboyant as they are inevitably share their love for fashion and try to spread the word of bloggers. I think Wesley is sour towards Jay because Jay is known for being flamboyant, fun, outgoing and having a good time. The thing though Jay has an amazing blog and an amazingly large following so he is entitled to do as he does because it is clearly the reason he has the following he does. Some designers and writers really need to take the stick out of their behinds and make way for the new wave of things.
http://www.torontolife.com is terrific. There’s often all the appropriate info at the suggestions of my fingers. Thank you and maintain up the superior work!
This blogger is at the Cannes Film festival 2012 flown in by HP, ( Hewlitt Packhard. Clearly this Forbes. Top 500 company appreciates his lack of the rehearsed English language and loves how he is merging fashion and technology. Even if this writers at Toronto Life has no clue what she is saying and will never experience or accomplish what this supposed illiterate 20 year old is doing in Fashion in Canada.
Regards