Brands vs. influencers: Who holds more power?

This is Connecting the Dots, a series in which writer José Criales-Unzueta looks at how fashion, pop culture, the internet and society are all interconnected.

If you’ve ever wondered why some influencers wear tiny shorts and skimpy tops from spring collections to attend autumn shows in the middle of the winter, sit back and stay on for this ride.

Once upon a time — pre-Instagram — bloggers and VIP guests would seldom be offered a piece from a collection or to attend a brand’s show. “The point [of blogging] used to be to be impartial, but then this subcategory of ‘influencers’ developed,” remembers Camille Charrière of her blogging days, “and you started to get the opportunity to attend [shows] but also get dressed by the brand.”

Influencers were born when brands decided to meet their consumers where they were — online — and realised they could leverage bloggers’ attendance to promote not just their shows, but their current collections too. In return, the bloggers received clout from brand association.

“But it was never about a full look,” notes Charrière. That much has changed. What used to be a casual practice between brands and attendees has developed into a fully fledged strategy. “Social media has made fashion about going viral — it’s not about style,” says Charrière. It’s a short-sighted move: customers become jaded when their favourite follows start donning full, and fully-paid-for, looks.

“We used to have more power because we had a strong and direct relationship with our audiences,” says Charrière, “but as influencers gained more power, they also got more greedy.” Influencers, says Charrière, started to work to satisfy brands in order to get more access, which has handed brands all the power, often to the detriment of the audience.

What’s in it for me?

A publicist friend tells me that brands want influencers in full looks even though mixed-and-matched outfits are more interesting for audiences. The whole point, after all, is for the brand to leverage attendees and create a ‘moment’ around their shows. “What is the brand supposed to do with an image where someone isn’t in a full look? They can’t use it,” says the publicist.

“Now it’s about KPIs. You know that all of our posts end up on a PowerPoint,” she says. It’s true — once a publicist sent me the wrong Google Drive link, linking to a media value presentation tracking influencer stats instead of a lookbook. It was fascinating, but a little depressing. Your favourite personalities, reduced to a couple of digits.

For Brenda Weischer, aka @brendahashtag, the benefit of getting dressed by a brand goes beyond the clothes. “It’s often a strategic moment to create a relationship with a brand and the publicists,” Weischer says, “when you work in media you have a direct line with them, but as an influencer a fitting is often the only time where you get to be with them in person.” But once the relationship has been established, it’s time to play the game and balance expectations between brands and audience.

Know your role

The transactional relationship between a celebrity and a brand is straightforward, but there’s more ambiguity with influencers. “Some brands care about community, others care about quick commercial impact, and others about image,” says the aforementioned publicist.

What’s clear, however, is where everyone stands. “Sometimes talent [influencers] get confused and think they’re a VIP, but we have a role, which is to promote the brand or get the brand impressions,” adds Weischer. “Why would you turn up with a huge Chanel logo to a Gucci show?” There’s also a pecking order to dressing: see again those influencers wearing shorts to winter shows. Weischer lays it out like so: “First comes the celebrity ambassador, then the occasional VIP, and then influencers pick or are assigned what’s left.” Basically, sometimes the shorts are all that’s left.

Bending the rules

Can influencers wrest power — and personal style — back from the brands? The path forward for influencers like Weischer and Charrière is to stretch and bend the so-called rules. “You’re benefiting the brand no matter what you’re wearing so long as it’s from the brand,” says Weischer. “PRs are under pressure to deliver numbers and impressions, so for them it’s difficult when you turn up in a vintage look and not what’s selling now,” she continues, “but the audience understands that if you are still wearing the brand.”

Weischer wears exclusively black and white, cooperating with brands to make it work — her following is loyal, primarily because they see her as unshakable. It’s what makes someone like her influential. You follow an influencer for their style, not for what a publicist chose for them.

Charrière is known in part for her extensive vintage assortment, which is what her 1.2 million-strong audience expects from her, among other style codes. “But now all the stuff comes with instructions of how to be worn,” she says. “The result is contrived, so I’d rather do things my way and protect my relationship with my audience than protect the brands,” adds Charrière, who often mixes brand pulls with her own wardrobe. “It’s more realistic, few people are actually shopping for a full runway look.” Audiences would much rather see how their style oracle incorporates new products into their wardrobe than a replication of the runway.

Different brands have different strategies, and influencers serve a purpose. Think of Schiaparelli, who rarely has influencers at their couture shows, but hosted several this past autumn 2024 season presumably to push their ready-to-wear. For Weischer and Charrière, brands like Rick Owens have the right idea. “They don’t dress anyone, and if you want a look you’re invited to make an appointment at the store, which is iconic,” says Weischer. “But it’s also the show where I go and see a crowd of people like any other, and they’re all wearing the brand because they want to and buy it.” Charrière also namechecked Ann Demeulemeester, Alaïa and Saint Laurent.

Shift in the waters

Early this year, Bottega Veneta released a series of campaigns featuring A$AP Rocky and Kendall Jenner photographed by paparazzi in full looks from their pre-spring 2024 collection. Prior to them being disclosed as advertising, the internet saw the images and started reposting them. Magazines and websites including Vogue.com covered the looks as celebrity style. We did the work for the brand by doing what we always do online. This was a win for the label, but it represents a peak in influencer and VIP dressing. They cracked the code, but now the audience is aware and more sceptical than ever. It’s a thunder that will not strike once again.

It’s also why some brands are starting to slowly pull back from these firm strategies. “Brands that are cool with a capital C don’t want your unboxing or a tag,” says Weischer, “they want to appear organically in your feed.” Charrière adds: “When you’re doing street style, you’re attending as yourself and should keep your personality, otherwise you’re not adding any value to the fashion conversation, which is the whole point.”

Both Weischer and Charrière point to Gucci as a promising example in influencer dressing. Sabato De Sarno’s debut show last year represented a clean slate. The label invited its community of influencers and VIPs and offered dressing, but, according to a friend who works with the brand, they recommended them to steer clear of full looks. It’s a strategy that was first seen as a way to dilute the Alessandro Michele footprint, but Gucci has since doubled down. “I relish the fact that the brand is no longer expecting that you show up head to toe, and are actually fully down with the idea of you putting your spin on it,” says Charrière, “it’s encouraging.”

It also helps to put De Sarno’s clothing and accessories in context, which paints a more convincing picture to a customer waiting to be charmed. “It’s the one brand of that size that is doing it this way,” says Charrière, and it might have an impact on the rest. Still, Charrière argues that the next shift will come from influencers rather than brands. “The younger generation is like the first group of bloggers, they come with a bullshit filter,” she says. “Brands are in for a rude awakening because what they think works doesn’t anymore.” The audience is savvier than ever, Charrière argues, “and if something riles people up the wrong way, they move on. What we all want is authenticity.”

Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.

More on this topic:

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