One of the greatest things about NYFW is IFBCON, the Independent Fashion Bloggers Conference that takes place twice a year in NYC and this year (Feb 6-7), definitely did not disappoint. Last week, The Altman Building (this year’s venue location) was full of fashion bloggers, buzzing with fashion, beauty, ambition + brains. As usual, there were very few boys in the mix, which is a shame as I keep coming across more + more male fashion bloggers that are quite engaging like The Fashionisto + Steve Bale of TheStyleManifest, as Bryan Boy is not the only one out there. In a flash, trends slapped me in the face – I saw lots of fur (real + faux) stoles + vests, plenty of patterns ( floral, camo, animal print + graphic), turbans, sequins + best of all, long white fringe over black. As far as makeup goes, there were lots of matte red + orangey red lips along with plenty of black wing tip lined eyes. This being my second IFBCON, as usual, there was a lot to see, do + learn. This year, there were areas where you could take your pic at ALEX AND ANI, get a quick hair makeover by Fekkai, crafting at MAILCHIMP
+ beauty makeovers at bare minerals – featuring their new palette for Spring.
Unlike last year, this time there were a lot of giveaways including Cambridge Satchels,
Monster Headphones + a rainbow of eyeshadows from bare minerals plus, a visit by the amazingly beautiful Tyson Beckford (seen below).
On Day One, for breakfast, we were welcomed by the screening of the trailer for legendary fashion editor Diane Vreeland’s ”Diane Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel” – we all received a free copy at the end of conference (If you haven’t seen it, you must, must, must – so much insight + creativity that just evolved organically rather than stale.), then it was time to work.
The workshops varied in content: One’s first year of blogging was broken down, ‘blow-by-blow’ by some notable bloggers including Tina Craig of Bag Snob + Zanita Morgan of Zanita (sponsored by Beso), how Rakuten Linkshare can help you to gain more traffic through the magic of affiliate marketing, while Bollare + Glossi showed us what tools + techniques we needed to elevate our influence through social media. Meanwhile, Lulu Frost‘s CEO + Founder Lisa Salzer explained how she gained success with Co-CEO + Co-Founder Katia Beauchamp of birchbox discussing how the evolution of our industry holds for the future. But for me, the best part was hearing from two of the top bloggers in the biz, whom not only raised the bar of excellence but also helped in giving birth to fashion blogging as a legitimate revenue producing business: Susie Lau of Stylebubble –
(photo: Susie Lau)
+ Leandra Medine of The Man Repeller:
(photo: Ashley Rowe)
Day Two, was off to a heavy start with discussing a blogger’s guide to copyright + trademark law then a chat with Warby Parker Co-Founder + Co-CEO Neil Blumenthal. Affiliate marketing was further discussed from different POVS including new ways on how to monetize your site by making the most of your content, how to master your mobile content to how to pitch to the brands you want. The best was the discussion on what fashion bloggers need to know when it comes to SEO by the fantastic Erika Miller of ELM Consulting, whom was not only informative, she was very funny.
Overall, it was a lot of fun + informative – can’t wait for the next one in September!