In September of 2019 Derek Blasberg launched Youtube.com/Fashion, which is Youtube’s ‘single destination for style content on Youtube’. Blasberg is Youtube’s Director of Fashion and Beauty and his work with Youtube has been monumental for the history of fashion media. Blasberg is a writer, New York Times best-selling author, Vanity Fair’s ‘Our Man on the Street,’ a senior staff member at the Gagosian gallery, the host of the television show ‘CNN Style’, and an STL native. He saw a need for the platform to create a place specifically for fashion content on Youtube and Youtube saw the need as well. Fashion & Beauty channels on Youtube grew by over six times from 2014 through 2018 and were performing well in views.
Youtube.com/Fashion is a centralized place on Youtube for fashion content. Users simply go to the Youtube.com/Fashion website and scroll through hours of content. You can find content about style from creators, collaborations with fashion brands and creators, live streams from the runway, and inside access to the industry as a whole. Or maybe you want to start creating your own fashion content, the platform is perfect for that too!
Blasberg has also been instrumental in connecting Youtube creators with major fashion brands like Louis Vuitton and Dior. Louis Vuitton's first partnership on Youtube was with Emma Chamberlain. Chamberlain is a nineteen year old content creator with almost 10 million subscribers on Youtube and 12.3 million followers on Instagram. Fans of hers love her relatable content where she vlogs herself doing everyday things. She takes her viewers with her while cooking, thrift shopping, driving, and so much more.
Emma started working with the brand in March of 2019 when Louis Vuitton and Youtube sent her to Paris Fashion Week for their Fall-Winter 2019 show. While in Paris she was fully welcomed into the Youtube fashion community by creating collaboration videos with Blasberg and model Karlie Kloss. Since then she has attended three more Louis Vuitton shows, the last one being virtually.
Partnerships likes these between Chamberlain and Louis Vuitton have been extremely successful. Chamberlain's fashion week Youtube videos have ranked in any where from three to thirteen million views. This partnership has also given Louis Vuitton access to a younger demographic and given them more of a presence on the platform.
“Our goal is to make YouTube.com/Fashion a diverse and inclusive place, filled with the latest fashion and beauty trends, content and more”
Youtube.com/Fashion has made fashion more accessible to those who are interested in learning and watching. Gone are the days where fashion shows were only watched by those who were lucky enough to attend in person. This space allows users to get in on the action by watching shows live or after the shows. And after the shows is where the views really come from. Blasberg states that “60 percent of fashion show viewership happens a month after a show is published”.
The platform has seen intense growth over the past year, seeing as in person shows were not happening at all due to COVID-19. Blasberg and Youtube have been working with trade organizations and brands in the fashion industry during this time so that they can get the best partnerships for digital fashion weeks on their platform. Their goal is to get brands to create content exclusively for Youtube’s audiences, rather than other social media platforms.
It will be interesting to continue to monitor Youtube.com/Fashion's success as more users are being drawn to TikTok and other platforms that specialize in more bite-sized content.
I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to interview Derek Blasberg to gain more insights about his work at Youtube and how he has integrated the platform into fashion media. Read below to see what his work entails and where he sees fashion media moving.
How would you describe your role at Youtube as head of fashion and beauty partnerships?
"My title is head of fashion & beauty at Youtube. Put simply, my team helps create more quality style content. We work with brands, publishers and what we call professionals, which includes models, makeup artists and hairstylists, to strategize the type of video they want to put in the world. In 2019, we launched youtube.com/fashion as an algorithmically-curated destination for style content."
What has the process been like for you working to integrate Youtube into fashion media over the past year and a half?
"Last year was a surreal year for everyone everywhere. Like every industry, fashion took a much needed look at what it stood for, and I don't think it will ever be the same. In 2020, we saw conversations around diversity, sustainability, and the toil that the fashion cycle has on ourselves and the world. At YouTube, we were proud to launch the first ever digital fashion week on YouTube.com/Fashion to show designers' creations from around the world. In September, we launched the Black Designer Initiative. " I feel like Youtube.com/Fashion has been so successful because it has recognized the importance of bringing in creators that are already well loved on the platform into the fashion industry. I immediately think of Emma Chamberlain attending the Louis Vuitton shows and her collaboration videos with Karlie Kloss in Paris. What is the process like to connect creators on the platform with brands? Were brands immediately open to these collaborations?
"Until recently, there's been a huge gulf between the incredible creator community at YouTube and the more traditional world of style. One of my objectives at YT has been to bridge the divide and, with results like Emma and LV, we've seen incredible progress."
What has the process of convincing luxury brands and icons in the industry like Naomi Campbell to use the platform been like?
"Naomi was thrilled to join Youtube's community when she realized that, as a creator, she is her own director, producer, editor and has final cut. " How have you seen the platform grow over the past year, considering the impact of COVID-19 on the fashion industry?
What does Youtube’s role in fashion media in a post covid world look like moving forward?
"We built /fashion to be everyone's front row seat to fashion week, and when we're on the other side of lockdown, it'll be nice to get back to fashion week!" Where do you see fashion media moving next?
"Bob Iger says, 'Innovate or die.'"
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