Influencers as Directors - my thoughts

I want to begin by stating I have the utmost respect and admiration for Perrie Sian as a professional, as an influencer, and as a person. This blog post is simply based on my views and observations on the way in which the social media/digital creator industry is evolving, and whilst I intend on being honest, I intend to do so whilst remaining polite and respectful throughout.

As someone who's career in fashion really took off once starting out as a buying admin assistant for New Look at their head office in London, which required me to relocate at 22 years old to a new city by myself, and then work my way up, and through various roles and positions within multiple fashion company's, I must be honest with the fact that I have mixed emotions with the recent announcement of Perrie Sian becoming the new creative director of In The Style. Firstly, I must convey my sincere congratulations to Perrie on this new and exciting opportunity!

It seems that this position is something which Pretty Little Thing introduced when giving the same role to Molly Mae in 2021, and In The Style are now replicating with one of their most successful collaborators, Perrie Sian. I had the same mixed emotions when molly Mae took on her position too, I must add.

In the professional fashion industry, the role of creative director is achieved by working your way up, normally from the buying department area. This means starting off as I did, in a buying admin assistant role. A role which entails plenty of admin, as it says on the tin. Being more than efficient, but savvy on Excel to be able to set up multiple tracking documents to log the progress of not only every sample in every collection, but every lab dip, every test report, every trim, every fit note, every style change and every fabric swatch for every single style you're looking after. It also means liaising with suppliers all day every day on the status of each of the above, feeding back to other members of the company such as merchandisers and PR and of course, not forgetting, dealing with post. The post that comes in huge boxes which have travelled all the way from China and India and don't smell good at all, ruining your nails to open them, and then lugging said heavy goods round the office to distribute to multiple departments. Then comes the general duties of steaming garments for meetings, setting up showrooms for buying shows and generally being the “skivvy” of the department. Teas and coffees needed for meetings? You're called up. New rails or hangers needed to make the showroom look pretty? You're off out top get them. Labels need removing and then re-tacking back on? You're spending the afternoon as a manual hand machinist. Buyer and garment tech in a fit meeting and need another sample? Out they come and you're summoned: “G! Please can you go and grab me the red seal of the blue lace dress with sleeves and and open back from Simak?” Never mind that you're sending an important email, logging something in a complex spreadsheet or even on the phone to a supplier. Up you get, off to the sample room you go. You search through multiple rails, sometimes at the top of an industrial ladder, and you return with the correct item – as well as allll the knowledge of it in your head. Has the bulk fabric been approved? When are we due to receive the trims? All these questions are asked in a fit meeting as you return with the sample, and you answer in front of your buyer, the head of buying, the garment tech and the brand director. Then you're done with and off you trot back to what you were doing 20 minutes ago before you're called up once again to answer more questions.

It's not easy work, and only those who want the job, work the job. My Head of brand once said to someone who wasn't being kept on, “this isn't a job you need, it's a job you want:”. And she was right.

You do well however, and you get promoted through the ranks, to assistant buyer where you have slightly less admin, then junior buyer, to buyer, and then into head of buying/head of brand and director territory. Then Voila! You're at the top, asking the questions you once answered as an admin, making decisions on what the next pantone shade for this seasons Cornflower Blue will be with the head of design.

All of this, takes years upon years. You tend to start off as a buying admin assistant in your early 20's, and high levels of decision making aren't normally reached until mid-30's if you're lucky. It's a dog-eat-dog world, a career in demand and there'll be someone ready to replace you the second you decide it's not for you. No one is irreplaceable. It most certainly isn't for a sensitive soul because the dog-eat-dog world I just mentioned is no exaggeration – I learnt this in my first ever role and had to toughen up very quickly, much to my surprise.

In the last few years, I've developed so much respect for influencers caving attempted to dabble into the industry myself. The level of independent hard work that goes into succeeding is immense. I see that. I acknowledge that. It's something I'd love to achieve in the future with my Instagram page and this blog itself. Wish me luck!

The creativity, the actual creating. The editing. The knowledge of tech – editing videos, using various filming equipment, programmes and editing suites. It's all a minefield and requires actual learning, in depth knowledge and pure skill. Then we have to take into consideration the marketing, the styling, the selling of yourself as well as product. The confidence! Oh my, filming a reel, filming for YouTube – it takes so much confidence! More than I have I think, to be honest. Never ever, would I disrespect the pure hard work and talent which goes into this line of work which many create and work on, and build all for themselves. It's admirable.

However, it can't be denied that it is very different to that of a buying assistant and positions alike in a fashion head office. Successful influencers work for themselves ultimately. They go at their own pace, do things as they wish and work to their own standards. Working your way up in a role and for a brand is a different kettle of fish. I'm not by any means saying its harder, or easier for that matter – just different. It does mean you're the skivvy for not much reward – that is probably the main difference.

Therefore, when influencers like Molly Mae and now Perrie Sian achieve these roles from such a different route, there is an part of me which finds it hard to accept. Although I acknowledge they've worked extremely had to get there, and have no doubt that they're fully capable of the work, I do wonder if they do honestly have any true, real and raw idea of the realities of the work and the business from the same view as those who've worked deep within it, and from the bottom.

When influencers have their own collections with a brand and sell it on their Instagram and YouTube, they talk about their involvement and ultimately call it their collection whilst implying they've made all the decisions and done all the work. But I know what goes into a collection. It requires designers to design, garment technicians to fit, merchandisers to monetise, buyers to buy, production to actually get produced and plenty of admins for each department to put in the ground work. One influencer hasn't done all of this for their collection. It's impossible. They're given a collection, they potentially remove a few pieces, change minor design details, give some opinions and then they model it all and sell on their social media channels. Ultimately, it falls on the each of the above departments to put together and produce behind the scenes so it can be marketed as a collaboration with an influencer. So I do understand why for some in the fashion industry would take offence to these sweeping statements around 'their own collections' when they simply haven't put the same type of work into it. They're getting to do all the glamorous and exciting elements, not the nitty gritty stressful parts that takes months of blood, sweat and tears from a whole team of talent. Again, I must emphasise, that I'm not saying the part in which these influencers play in their own collections is easy and they haven't put great deals of hard work into it, because they absolutely have. And I must add, their name ultimately brings the brand money. Their collections sell, they advertise the brand and they attract traffic. So it's brilliant. But, they haven't created a collection as they maintain. Once they've modelled and shot it, they continue to do their own work, except they talk of this collection instead of other brands. This is where their influence into the collection really comes in. This is what brands want them to do. This is the point of the collaboration.

Therefore, when an influencer becomes a creative director from a complete different route, it does beg the question – how much do they put into the role that is reflective of a creative director who got their position from starting off as an admin assistant and is it truly fair? Have they “jumped the queue” as such? All the assistant buyers, buyers and so on, who work behind the scenes at their desks from morning till night with the dream of becoming director – could they skip all of this work, switch their career to influencing and have a quicker route to the role?

Or, is it simply a marketing term. Is Perrie Sian an actual creative director, or has she been given a slightly more in depth role but is ultimately not doing much thats too different to previously? Does the term simply add more credit to an influencer for some maybe?

Perrie is still filming hauls from other brands on her Instagram – she isn't now just “selling” I|n The style exclusively. Is this a conflict of interest thats ultimately putting a dampener on the authenticity and legitimacy of the director role? I only see Dune London, advertised on the Instagram page of Debra Bloom, the buying director of Dune London, not plenty of other footwear brands. As a director, she is Dune London – she wears it, she uploads it, she embodies it.

Since I've started dipping my toes into the influencer word and discovered how hard it is to build a following as well as the amount of work and skill that goes into it, I must admit that these creative director roles bother me less than I know they would have if I was still working in buying as an admin assistant at 22 years old. I have far more acceptance, but still with the knowledge of what truly goes into creating a collection.

I guess, unless I'm ever lucky enough top spend the day with Perrie Sian and truly see a day in her office life at In The Style, I won't know what her role really entails. Whilst I massively respect her work and her as a person, I can sit on the fence and skim the line between the two worlds of working behind the scenes in a buying department and being a face of a brand via the influencer route, being as I've experienced one and want to/trying to experience the other.

What do you all think? Do you see influencers as actual creative directors with the same level of responsibility and decision making as other creative directors? Do you see it as marketing tool? Do you work in the industry and feel frustrated by it? Do you feel it demeans your work? I'd love to know your thoughts!

In the meantime, I'd like to finish with congratulating Perrie on the role once again and emphasising the respect I have for the work, even if it does beg questions, curiosity and if I'm honest, some jealousy too!