Influencers in Real Life: Behind the Scenes of Our NYFW Fun

The Spring / Summer 2020 slew of fashion weeks will be all wrapped up on October 1^st with the end of Paris fashion week. While we’re super excited about fashion weeks around the world, we’re still not over the fun we had in our neck of the woods during New York Fashion week! As we diligently kept our eyes on the shows and emerging trends, yours truly represented Anjé at an event hosted by Ombre Digital. A night filled with fashion, fancy drinks, and influencers, the Blogger and the Brand event was one for the books!

 

Strolling up to the Lispenard Loft on Monday, September 9^th, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this Blogger and the Brand shindig. I mean, I’m nowhere near influencer status with my humble sub-2,000 Instagram followers, yet I was about to be in a room filled with frightfully gorgeous instagrammers. Hoping my nervous sweat looked like an intentional dewy glow, I made it to check in. Attendees representing brands were given white hair ties to wear and influencers were given orange ones. Beyond celebrating fashion week and general networking, the goal of the event was to help connect bloggers to brands who are looking to utilize influencer marketing.

Image via @mr.preprah 

With my camera around my neck, I was immediately whisked into a little room where the designer of floral embellished headphones brand, Rosé Rockers, was giving a sneak peak of her new collection slated to be available by early 2020. This is where I met influencer, Miriam (@svanukaa), a sweet soul all the way from Georgia (the country not the state, clarified by her and her accent). We gushed over the products and the more I spoke with her, the less I became intimidated by the orange hair tie on her wrist. She was incredibly down to earth! After the little presentation, Miriam and I made our way the central hall where the main event was about to kick off!

Rows and rows of beautifully dressed people sat and soaked in the wealth of knowledge shared about the rise of influencer marketing during the Q&A hosted by Rohma Siddiqui (@rohsiddiqui). On the panel was Evie Phillips, CEO / Founder of Creeds Collective, and Norah Murphy, Influencer Marketer at Clique Media. To the dismay of my carpel tunnel prone wrist, I viciously scribbled notes the entire time, and have outlined the key takeaways below:

 

• Companies are now investing larger and larger portions of their budgets to influencer marketing
• Young influencers looking for brand collabs should keep track of their own analytics and case studies – being able to prove your impact makes you more appealing to brands
• Campaigns are more than just a transaction - there should be real synergy and relationship building between any influencer and brand collab for it to be successful
• Today there’s a problem with instagrammers posting fake sponsored content…BEWARE!
• Brands know that people want to see influencers who are just like them – from skinny to plus-sized to everything in between
• The demand for microinfluencer collabs is on the rise, as microinfluencer content is generally more organic and tied to a more tightknit community
• Never. Buy. Likes…Or followers.



After the Q&A I mingled a bit and met the lovely Lamisa (@thedamselindispute) and Felicia (@feliciamarietv), and even chatted with Norah who was on the Q&A panel! What blew my mind is that beneath the chic style, outrageous number of Instagram followers, and flawless photos, these influencers were so…human. We all had common ground, and I think that’s an important idea to remember no matter who we meet 😊.

Image via @mr.preprah 

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So what did we learn from our NYFW fun? Well, influencers are people, first of all. Secondly, there’s a lot more that goes on behind the eye-catching content you find on your feed. Lastly, nervous sweat can indeed be passed for a healthy dose of shimmer 😉.