Why fashion blogging is a serious affair

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Sonu and Jasleen, who started Fashion Bombay together

One doesn’t have to be a Suzy Menkes or Anna Wintour anymore to tell the world that they know fashion. A firm grip on style and an impressive take on fashion is what is making the new breed of fashion bloggers the popular voices of fashion the world over.

Although unlike the West where fashion blogging is big, it’s slowly beginning to get its due in India. What’s more, fashion bloggers can rake in big moolah, Women’s Wear Daily reports.
Charu Gaur Naidu was a creative director at JWT, before she succumbed to the lure of fashion writing. After over eight years of working she called it quits to start something she feels passionate about — fashion. She took about three months to read up on fashion before she started her blog Picky C.
Charu, who presently works with certain brands and an e-commerce website, says, “In my fifth month of blogging, a British label invited me to Tokyo to cover the launch of their store. I don’t seek work, but in a day I get around 20-30 emails about products, parties and new launches. I have my set rules to deal with them. Can’t have a name like Picky C and offer rubbish, no?”
For Sonu and Jasleen, their blog Fashion Bombay happened by accident. They both worked with a national daily and shared a common love for fashion and started to style for various publications.
However, later they felt a need for a web space to showcase their work and that’s what Fashion Bombay was at first. Now they double up as consultants and writers for projects and freelance for a lot of brands and fashion websites.
Jasleen says, “Just the fact that there are new bloggers coming up everyday means that the fashion blogging industry is moving fast. Abroad they are obviously at a stage where they are treated as full-fledged publications. Here, we are still in the nascent stages. But we have a long way to go.”
Akanksha Singhal started blogging 10 years ago. Back then blogging was not a career option. But she informs that blogging is serious business now, “Fashion bloggers here are earning almost upto Rs 50K per month. To say how much they actually deserve is not quantifiable as the better knowledge a blogger has, the more he would charge. The future is definitely bright for young bloggers or trend followers who have a passion for fashion.”
A chance meeting with Gul Panag, which he wanted to document, paved the way for design student and avid blogger Santu Misra to start his blog. Later Vogue India asked him to join their blogging program. He says, “Bloggers are here to stay. Mega-bloggers like Tommy Ton, Bryan Boy have proved one can make money and be famous at the same time,” he chuckles.