July 19, 2014
Fashion Meets Social Media
The two most discussed topics on social media have to be food and fashion. In October, Cloud961 dedicated a whole issue to food on social media platforms, and it was about time t…
The two most discussed topics on social media have to be food and fashion. In October, Cloud961 dedicated a whole issue to food on social media platforms, and it was about time that we discussed fashion. In Lebanon’s blogging scene, fashion and lifestyle blogs are the most evolved, most active and most numerous in comparison to other types. Fashion bloggers have different styles as well, some covering professional fashion shows and designers, others creating their own styles with weekly photo-shoots and styling tutorials. A few have even created their own YouTube channels, which constitute the earliest form of consistent v-logging in the country.
To keep up with this thriving fashion community, fashion brands and designers had to go online to benefit from the social spotlight. When we were brainstorming for a cover idea, I asked my team about ideas for the first cover shoot. While some suggested local and upcoming fashion designers, the vast majority agreed on Roula Nahas as she represents the crème de la crème of online fashion marketers in the Middle East. Her vision for Bestseller’s brands (mainly JACK & JONES and VERO MODA) led her to start social media marketing for the brands even before the mother company had begun considering this type of marketing. Her dedication to online marketing had won her the Best Fashion Brand on Social Media for VERO MODA at the 2013 Beirut Social Media Awards (SMAs). For the cover shoot, we have teamed up with photographer Patrick Sawaya and fashion designer Karoline Lang which resulted in a mesmerizing feature.
In addition, we have an exclusive interview with the winner of Best Fashion Blog at the 2013 SMAs, Deema Saidi, who has since moved to Dubai and left blogging. In the interview, she explains the reason behind that and gives community managers some tips on managing fashion brands online. We also had a one-on-one interview with SMA finalist Lana Sahely whose blog “L’Armoire de Lana” has become a benchmark for fashion bloggers in the Middle East.
The fashion field also stretches over to start-ups such as Raghunter, the first-of-its-kind fashion search engine in Lebanon, and to up-and- coming designers that are featured in this issue, in addition to a deep analysis of the presence of some Lebanese make-up artists on social media.
This issue is our biggest yet, and we wish we could have made it even bigger as there are many more brands, designers and bloggers we could have featured. I hope you enjoy this issue as much as the team has enjoyed working on it.
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Jack & Jones