News by Madeleine Oakley
Google-owned website YouTube has unveiled a new vertical entitled ‘Slash Fashion’ which will house style videos, collaborations with brands, and catwalk livestreams all in one place.
With the number of YouTube beauty and fashion channels increasing by 224% between 2014 and 2018, it is obvious why the website wants to capitalise on this popular content. Beauty related videos received 169 billion views last year, and with Instagram profiting significantly from fashion content, YouTube have been prompted to give more attention to the fashion category.
In June 2018, YouTube hired Derek Blasberg (former CNN style host and Vanity Fair contributor) as Director of Fashion and Beauty. He is well known for his 900,000 follower strong Instagram account, showing photos of him socialising with Katy Perry and Karlie Kloss, among others. Blasberg has been tasked with persuading brands, models and designers to become involved and create content. Blasberg explained: “Our goal is to make YouTube.com/Fashion a diverse and inclusive place, filled with the latest fashion and beauty trends, content and more.”
There will be an increasing number of personal celebrity accounts. Naomi Campbell’s new channel ‘Being Naomi’, launched in November 2018, has been a success and now boasts almost 300,000 followers. A video of her cleaning a plane received 1.5 million views in 2 months, making it the most successful upload from someone recruited by Blasberg. Alexa Chung has now amassed 165,000 subscribers and has admitted that her channel has prompted people to visit her website and purchase clothing.
Brands Dior and Ralph Lauren have already started to livestream their upcoming Fashion Week shows. Viewers can expect plenty of live content from the catwalks this season.
‘Slash Fashion’ will also feature ‘behind-the-scenes’ videos from magazines such as Vogue and LOVE. There will also be collaborations between brands and popular vloggers, for example between YouTube star Emma Chamberlain and Fashion House Louis Vuitton. Chamberlain appeared on Time’s Magazine’s annual list of ‘The 25 Most Influential People On The Internet’ in July and her aptitude for video making means she is tasked with helping brands to create laid-back, desirable content.
Access the latest fashion videos at youtube.com/fashion.
