We caught up with former Fashion Week chief Fern Mallis at last week's Afingo's "Behind the Seams" conference, where she sounded off on fashion bloggers, their sense of entitlement, and why they need to "get real."
Thread: What's your take on fashion bloggers coming to fashion week?
Fern Mallis: Well, two seasons ago I had a session in the American Express line with fashion bloggers. And there was a lot of, I don't want to say hostility, but they were really anxious and aggressive, and they think that they don't belong in the seventh row or the sixth row, and that they get the message out more than anybody else, and they are quick on the draw so they deserve to be up front. They were basically calling all the editors and retailers there fairly obsolete, almost, by the time their messaging comes out. I just told them that they need to earn that respect. You don't just stampede the front row. You need to get known, you need to get the respect of the industry, and get their confidence.
I said, who are you all? We don't know who you are. Some of them were complaining that they didn't want to go above 14th Street and I said, get real. Get real, get your shots and get your passport updated [laughs]—you need to be able to move around. They are certainly a force. I told them—unionize, get together. And apparently, they are—they're getting together and talking to each other. They are a force to be reckoned with, for sure.
