Navigating person-branding in the fashion blogosphere

Abstract

Fashion blogs have received much attention since their emergence in 2002. Yet, little is known about how fashion bloggers succeed or fail in building their brand in the fashion industry. This article examines how fashion bloggers navigate person-brand building by focusing on how fashion bloggers accumulate – or fail to accumulate – status and audience, on the basis of a new form of capital and construct: person-brand capital. Based on an 18-month netnography in the fashion blogosphere and a Bourdieuian theoretical approach, we find that to build a strong person-brand, fashion bloggers must engage in at least two sets of practices that help fuel person-brand capital. Fashion bloggers must signal that they belong to and play a valuable role in the field of fashion and in the subfield of blogging. Our findings also demonstrate that engaging in practices rooted in either a lack of cultural capital in the field of fashion or weak social capital in the subfield of blogging can hinder person-brand capital development. Overall, our research provides insight into successful person-brand building in the fashion blogosphere and offers implications for fashion brands that want to benefit from the unique showcase that they can offer.