Have Kenyan Fashion Bloggers Lost The Plot?
The rise and rise of the Kenyan fashion blogger in recent years has been phenomenal. It’s been great to have a variety of voices in the blogosphere sharing their personal style as well as giving fashion tips to their readers. It also cannot be denied that fashion bloggers have contributed to the growth of interest in fashion as well as the discovery of new stores and stylish pieces.
Fashion blogging has been picking up steadily world-over and is especially big in the developed world. The same thing that has happened in the developed markets seems to be making its way here. Brands are realizing the influence an established fashion blogger has and have begun to invest appropriately. This has led to a rise in fashion bloggers and an increased interest from the online audience in fashion.
I have been a fan of a few Kenyan fashion bloggers for a while now and have followed their blogs as well as social media accounts. Fashion bloggers start off with gusto and mostly show off their personal style. As the blog gets bigger, the fashion blog turns into a movement and then sadly, into an online store. What else would you call a fashion blog that is filled with clothes from various brands littered all over? Brands in themselves aren’t a problem; it’s a blogger posting outfits consisting solely of pieces the blogger has received from brands.
Perhaps I am not the target audience. I prefer a more thrifty approach to fashion. I definitely don’t want to wear the same skirt everyone is wearing. Yes, I own many generic pieces as well as some expensive ones but there’s no way I’d buy all my dresses at Ksh 10,000. I respect fashion bloggers as I do all bloggers. Being one, I am well aware the effort it takes to do a post. I would however, love to see more in depth articles. Rather than the generic ‘here’s me in a pretty dress by so and so’, how about a post on the growth of fashion in Kenya? How about a review on the latest Kenyan fashion line? The issues that Kenyan designers are facing marketing their designs in Kenya and abroad? Why we had issues and still do on finding the proverbial Kenyan dress?
If already there is a blogger that does the above, please show yourself. I will be an avid reader. At the end of the day, I think that perhaps we need more fashion bloggers writing about the business of fashion and less pictures of them in pretty dresses and suits and at event launches.
http://www.mwendengao.com/2014/08/05/have-kenyan-fashion-bloggers-lost-the-plot/Mwende says
Money money…people have to pay bills. Seriously, we need to think on how to sort out the money issue. We are at a point where we need to come up with a solution on how people would survive and at the same time give the readers the best
You have a point there. Money is a factor. However, does it mean that there cannot be more in depth posts? I think it can be a win win if the posts are more balanced in terms of content.
The other day at PAWA254 Social Media Workshop for journalists, someone asked why people don’t read long posts forwarded to them on Whatsapp and the answer was, because they are “too long”. Yes too long…meaning more in depth. So when you look at you audience and realize that they like shallow content, then you give them shallow content.
Most content creators including fashion bloggers are influenced by the readers. They try to do more of what the readers want or interested in.
The point is, most people do it for the hits >>>>>Money
But yes, there is need for more in depth content
Yes, it’s true that the audience has a big say in the kind of content that is put out. I should probably just go ahead and begin a fashion blogging as a social experiment and see if it actually works with the kind of content I’m advocating for…
An interesting read Mwende! I like that you’ve actually recommended interesting topics that could be explored.
If Kenyan fashion bloggers shared more intellectual reads about fashion then they would be taken more seriously. This is what helped the Nigerian ‘Ankara’ fashion get an international following.
I am an optimist and believe that we can do much better! 🙂
Thank you Ayuma! I think it will get better. We can begin.
I am a fashion blogger and a fashion stylist. I hear you, challenge accepted. That has been my intention with my blog too and I have tried incorporation fashion and edutainment. Like I have written on the Business of Fashion styling just to create awareness of what is about.I am currently doing a series on women who have been game changers in the Kenyan fashion industry and hope to do more.
Check out my blog:
http://www.fitndiscover.wordpress.com
Would love to hear your thoughts.
Hi!Thank you for your comment. I have looked at your blog and I definitely think you’re onto something. Contact a lady called Lulu, the communication manager of BAKE (Bloggers Association of Kenya) at lulu@bake.or.ke and I’m sure she’ll be able to help you out with getting more exposure etc.
All the best and keep at it!
Thank you Mwende. I definitely will.
I find the title a quite misleading as it suggests that fashion bloggers were once upon a time doing so well but then lost the plot somewhere along the way which is not the case as fashion blogging is just picking up .Its pleasant to see so many new fashion bloggers coming up lately.
That said I agree with you fully that we need more than ‘this is me in a pretty dress” As an avid follower of trends I find it quite baffling that none of them is trying to review what’s in, what’s out, what other people besides themselves wore,celebrities dressing etc as this is a core part of fashion blogging.
Nice read(lemme stop before I write a whole blog here) 🙂
Thanks for the insight Daidey! The premise was that when it was just starting with the likes of Nancie Mwai, the content was more accessible. It’s become very robotic of late with a lot of the bloggers doing pretty much the same thing. It’d be nice if more fashion bloggers meant varied approaches to fashion. The ‘me in a pretty dress’ have their space but we also need those who as you’ve said follow the trends and talk about what celebrities wore. Basically less personality driven fashion blogging and more fashion driven fashion blogging.
Mwende, this post is very thought provoking to me. It raises issues with not only fashion bloggers but with all bloggers, me included. We should realize it is a privilege to be read and so we should strive to give our readers helpful information whether it is popular or not.
Very true. We all have to be conscious of the quality of content we put out. We owe our readers that much.
I agree with you. lately, it feels like reading one fashion blog is enough; not much variety in terms of content, lay out…and so on. Winnie Odande is onto something though, with the whole modesty approach (just seen her link in the comments above)
That’s true. Perhaps it’s teething problems. Hopefully with time the content will diversify as more fashion bloggers emerge.
Wow. Well thought post title. When fashion bloggers were starting out I really loved variety from lookbooks to DIY. If money really is the end game we dont wanna talk about then there are several ways to monetize not just promoting brands but promoting skills like stylists, designers, models. Overally I like that many are coming up but its mentally tiring when the content is structured the same. We could have indepth blogs thatvwouldnt matter to most but specialization will win the day.
Look at the evolution of stylifiq, from a DIY fashion blogger to an interior design fashion blogger. We shouldnt limit ourselves and to our readers.
Finally someone has written down everything I thought about.