Influencers, Niche Magazines and Journalistic Practice in Italy: Toward a New Fashion Editorial System

This essay considers fashion influencers, niche magazines, and the mainstream editorial system as heterogeneous expressions of the fashion editorial system (FES). It investigates the relationships between the digital turn affecting the FES, journalism, and commercial practices. We argue that information on fashion is produced by a variety of agents and media, both within and outside the boundaries of journalistic practice, and that the digital turn has had significant consequences in contemporary fashion communication. Drawing on empirical research carried out in Italy, we identify three main processes affecting the fashion editorial system: the change in the traditional top-down structure of communication, the challenges social media practices pose to the role of traditional media as intermediaries between producers and consumers, and the ability of the traditional editorial system to respond to the digital turn with innovative practices. The balance between editorial and commercial needs is at the core of each of these processes.