Are Influencers Brainwashing Our Buying Habits?
Image Gucci via Pinterest
By Sonia Blair
Can we ever be sure our stylistic choices are completely autonomous in the era of the “influencer”?
Although, we might like to preserve the idea that the clothes, accessories and places we lust after are chosen solely from our thoughts alone, but we can’t deny the impacts of modern influencers on our everyday habits.
Take the Gucci Jackie handbag reissue, launched in mid-2020 which fell in line with the trend of reissuing vintage handbags which has seen a rise in recent years, much like the Dior Saddle and the famous Prada Nylon. With the re-release of this iconic bag came an intensive-yet-subtle marketing campaign infiltrating feeds across social networking sites, particularly Instagram - influencing consumers’ sub-conscious with every casual post.
For me, the Jackie initially held no intrigue and was simply another handbag. The style and shape was unappealing on a personal level, but I understood as to why it would work as a trending ‘It’ bag. Yet, as the weeks went on since the bag’s re-launch, I found myself questioning my initial hesitation.
Pricing was looked up, colour options were reviewed and even a conversation over dinner was had as to whether the bag was worth its weight.
How can one go from being so staunchly indifferent to a new accessory to suddenly convincing themselves they desperatley needed it? In my reflection, I realised I had been #influenced.
It’s easy enough to ‘blame’ social media campaigns and influencer marketing for this, but there is a sort of science behind it, because consumers are being influenced in umpteen ways from the literature they are consuming (see: ‘bookfluencers’) to their home decor - suddenly everyone has a mushroom lamp or is coveting the Ettore Sottsass mirror.
While some of us might be more susceptible than others to trends, items such as ‘it’ bags more recently only evolved as a result of these mass influencer marketing campaigns. Often, the subtly of a post can lead buyers to believe it’s simply just another aesthetically pleasing image amongst the endless scrolling, without realising it’s a deliberate ploy for exposure.
With the Gucci Jackie, the social campaign was obviously calculated.
Gucci posted numerous images, videos and short story content about the launch of the handbag before influencers posted drip feed images of the bag into the feeds of their followers, reaching a broader, more niche and concentrated audience. Similar campaigns are regularly executed in the industry, with the aforementioned Dior Saddle bag and the recently issued Prada Cleo handbag.
One can argue this as a natural progression from the old role of the fashion magazine as the take-home display case of ornate products for readers to covet, inspiring them to pull a similar look or to purchase a featured product. However, there is something distinctly personal about an influencer campaign that sets it aside from a magazine advertorial - maybe it’s the mode of consumption often being one’s own phone, or even that the sponcon comes from multiple accounts at once.
The aim of these mass social media campaigns is to drive awareness of the item and ultimatley drive sales, but there’s one area of the fashion industry it bring into question: sustainability.
It plays a crucial role in the cycle of trends, always promising something else we “need” next. Many of the influencers promoting the Gucci Jackie one month were then promoting the Prada Cleo only a matter of weeks later. There will come a point where they’ve reached an expiration date marked by the arrival of another “must-have” purchase and fall to the back of our closets where old clothes and bags go to die.
By nature, style is a personal choice and a means of expressing ourselves. Wardrobes are curated, intentionally or unintentionally, in a manner that allows for a projection of how a person views themselves - or how they want to be viewed by others.
Subconsciously, stylistic choices may be infiltrated by a pretty image of a handbag that is suddenly missing from the wardrobe, a bag currently digitally plastered before your eyes. As the lines continue to blur between personal style and trend experimentation, it’s more than necessary to evaluate if you really want that bag (or that top, or those shoes) because you like it or because you’ve been convinced you should like it.
And no, I haven’t caved and bought myself a Jackie handbag - at least not yet.