YouTube Launches the Ultimate Destination for Fashion and Beauty Videos
If you’ve ever lost hours of otherwise productive time because one seemingly innocent link to watch Naomi Campbell disinfecting her plane seat led to a practically enchanting makeup tutorial from Patrick Starrr followed by a recap of what Emma Chamberlain was up to at Paris Fashion Week, YouTube and Derek Blasberg have done their job. And their latest accomplishment comes by way of the official launch of YouTube.com/Fashion.
Simply referred to as /fashion—“slash fashion,” that is—YouTube has christened the ultimate destination for style videos with its new vertical. Essentially /fashion is a place to discover all things fashion and beauty in one place. It’s also Blasberg’s biggest project to date since being named the stream behemoth’s head of fashion and beauty partnerships.
“When I joined YouTube last summer, I saw this hunger from viewers who loved consuming style content—and I wanted to give them more!” says the former editor, specifically referring to the 244% increase in fashion and beauty creators on YouTube between 2014 and 2018. “Much like Music and Gaming, which are established verticals on YouTube, we wanted to carve out a special destination for our users. Today, I’m proud to launch /fashion, which brings together the worlds of the already fabulous YouTube community with that of high fashion in one seamless destination.”
Of course for anyone paying attention, YouTube’s been leading up to this major moment for some time now. In the past few months, tons of fashion personalities have launched personal YouTube pages dedicated to sharing the behind-the-scenes of their lives and work, including Lily Aldridge, Victoria Beckham, and the aforementioned supermodel with a strong preference for germ-free airplane seats and shopping for groceries in person.
“I mean, where else could you find a legendary supermodel shopping at Whole Foods? What Naomi is doing right, as are a lot of our other fashion professionals, is being authentic, vulnerable, and opening up their lives to viewers,” says Blasberg.”Content you’ll see on Naomi’s channel is different than what you’ll see on Alexa Chung’s channel and is different than what you’ll see on Alexander Wang’s channel. They’re all creating content that reflects who they are as a person — Alexander Wang, for example, just launched a new series called ‘Spill the Boba,’ where he spills the {boba} tea with special guests in an interview-type format.”
It’s no coincidence /fashion is live today, just as New York Fashion Week is about to kick off (followed by the European tour of Fashion Weeks, as well). All eyes—especially those prone to fall down YouTube holes of runway videos and backstage makeup applications—will be on the fashion world and /fashion is setting an all-encompassing stage for all manner of related content ready to be devoured.
“Before I came on board, fashion brands didn’t have access to someone at YouTube or support in how to best utilize the platform,” Blasberg says of the process of getting /fashion to launch. “I’m proud to say that we’ve been changing that in a tremendous way and that a lot of what you’ll see on /Fashion reflects that.”
Aside from personalities and brands who’ll have a greater voice on Youtube, /fashion will also welcome style-related content from popular creators such as Ingrid Nilsen and Jackie Aina; publishers including Vogue, LOVE Magazine, and, of course, Glamour; as well as a virtual front-row view of runway shows around the globe.
“At the heart of our platform are some amazing creators who organically know how to create engaging and authentic content,” Blasberg adds of this exciting endeavor. “By encouraging brands, fashion professionals and publishers to think like our creators (and collaborate with them!), we are seeing new voices and channels emerge. This is reflected on /Fashion and content we think will draw viewers back again and again.”