Style blogs drive the fashion scene

Fitting in between classes

While the bloggers were working from niche interests, the magazine industry has already responded with its own anti-mainstream fashion mags.

“Why do magazines likeRay and Vivi sell well, even better than mainstream magazines like Vogue? Because they offer useful information and introduce products which are affordable. However their styles are too young and innocent, and many in the city are looking for something new,” says Jenny Li, chief editor ofShopping & Shopper, a magazine started in May.

Trend magazines which focus on shoes and hip-hop style have been popular in bookstores. With the support of the big brands, giants such as Elle, Cosmopolitan and Vogue dominate the mainstream. But Li targets the middle class. Most of the photos that covers half of the magazine come from fashionable people overseas that the editors found online.

Li used to work for a record company, and said that the entertainment industry closely follows blogs since they document city tastes. Sports shoes and oversize T-shirts have been shelved for classic leather shoes, cheap Monday pants and slim cut cardigans. They record their attire with film cameras and are more willing to buy things from high-street fashion brands like H&M and Zara.

If the magazine were a person, it would be a British rock fan based on its slight alterations to classic looks. Li also goes beyond the boutiques to explore shops run by fashion buyers.

It took a lot for the magazine to win the trust of the blogosphere. Most people did not want to be paid for their photos, though they were afraid of them being used in other ways. Things changed fast after the first several issues, and before long the magazine was more widespread than mainstream publications.

“Everyone wants to express himself. Mainstream magazines use te stars as the examples while we tend to use normal young people. It may help more people to get involved in fashion,” Li says.

Though there is a huge fashion market in China, information is limited. Li and her editors have been trying to look for native bloggers but the online scene is not as flourishing as it is in the West.

“Fashionable people in China are not so prominent online, they seldom share themselves,” Li says.

Though Shopping & Shoppers is defining the new fashion niche, finding a balance with the advertisers remains a problem. But most readers have been accepting.

“Between the luxury brands and the hip-hop wear, there are brands like Fred Pery, Energy and Miss Sixty which meets the needs of our readers. This is about ordinary people teaching ordinary people new and efficient ways to dress,” Li says.