Friday, February 12, 2016

India Fashion Interface Bloggers' Convocation

This was the first fashion bloggers meet for me. Seeded by MyFashionBay, the bloggers convocation was in association with Pearl Academy and ROPOSO on 6 &7 Feb’16. Venue partner- Indigo at One Golden Mile, New Delhi.
Panellists of India Fashion Interface 2016
The fashion interface is a platform to bring fashion designers, bloggers and fashion brands together. A panel of 5 members from fashion fraternity were brought on stage. Among them were Bubbles Sabarwal ,well known for her role in blockbuster No one killed Jessica, Komal K a top fashion blogger who blogs at http://thedelhifashionblogger.com/,  Meha Jayaswal, faculty at Pearl Academy of Fashion, Sunil Raisinghani, VP Vcloud Luxury, and Payal Jaggi, founder Kinche.

The event kicked off with an opening speech by Gaurav Banasal, co founder MyFashionBay.com Rachna Singh, Founder MyFashionBay.com.  They shared valuable insights from their experience and industry expertise.
Rachna- Founder My Fashion Bay
and moderated by
The first of its kind, IFI2016 was also focused on initiating unique networking strategy through events, a trend which is still picking up in India. Topics covered in details were-
  • Importance of social media for bloggers as well as brands and their collaboration.
  • How to increase traffic on blogs and make it known
  • Running digital campaigns for self or involving with a brand
During the session, Meha Jayaswal quoted that bloggers do an incredible job and write informative pieces. However blogs are not credible sources of information and hence not included in books for bibliography. This trend will change slowly if information credit is mentioned on the blog, plagiarism is filtered out, original pieces are produced and topics are well
Fashion blogger Komal
researched.  A point well made. Bloggers too should follow code of ethics!

Komal emphasized on bloggers’ social media presence and networking skills. Brands are also likely to collaborate with bloggers who have good content and prove to be good social media influencers. Getting paid by the brand comes later when the blogs achieve that standard of being “highly influential”.

As correctly stated by Sunil Rai, there are not fixed parameters for brands to choose bloggers. There should be an equal importance given to blog traffic and content simultaneously, which is debated many a times and the gap needs to be addressed.
A serious issue was pointed out by Payal as she said blogging is still naïve in India. The market is saturated abroad where blogging is taken seriously and brands pay well to bloggers, unlike India where after so much efforts bloggers still struggle to charge for their pieces they write.
The convocation had good take way points for all. Few among them were –
  1. Bloggers should not write for free (after all there are loads of efforts involved in writing a post)
  2. Attending bloggers meet or networking is very important to make your presence felt
  3. Balance all your social media properties. Readership should be at par on all places lest they should look fake.
  4. Keep learning new things (technologies, tools) to upgrade yourself. Come out of comfort zone and explore the “new”
  5. Be original. Don’t plagiarize. Keep things organic. Buying likes will only hamper your image (as brands can easily figure that out)
  6. Including pictures/videos will beautify your blogs and get attention/traffic. Remember all words and no picture will make your bog a dull baby! Display your profile picture to begin with.
On the verge of closing, IFI awarded bloggers on winning the blog contest. Fellow blogger Ridhima and I were the winners of the same. Read my winning blog post here

Payal and me
The event closed with hi tea and scrumptious snacks. Along side was POPBAZAR where designers and entrepreneurs across the country had set up their stalls of trendy apparels and beautiful accessories. From everyday fashion to designer wear, all patterns and colors on display were a visual treat. All the  talented designers who showcased their work deserve a huge round of applause for their efforts and design execution! The event was a great success.

Anything that you feel comfortable and good in can be a fashion statement for you. All you need is an eye for detail and good marketing.

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