“What are the cool girls wearing this summer?”
This is a question that gets asked (and answered) a lot in fashion spaces online. Of late, the conversations around fashion and trends have become less about who’s wearing the most visually appealing, most expensive items, but more about the ‘aura’ they exude. Instead of hard sells convincing fashion consumers to buy a piece of clothing, today’s fashion landscape is dominated by tastemakers shaping trends through ‘presence’ and ‘vibe’.
As the culture increasingly swaps out ‘micro-trends’ for the more identity-driven ‘personal style’ as the ultimate aspiration, there are a few names that stand out. This piece will explore how these key players leading the shift have cultivated an impactful presence in our current fashion zeitgeist. Exploring the cultural impact of style icons like Bella Hadid and brands like SKIMS, we will examine how the pursuit of an identifiable, timeless ‘personal style’ has replaced the chase for transient ‘micro-trends’ in today’s consumer culture.
Back in 2022, the fashion search engine Lyst named the supermodel and style maven Bella Hadid as the ‘Power Dresser of the Year’, thanks to the staggering “1900% increase in searches for similar pieces”. When it comes to measuring Bella Hadid’s impact on consumer behavior in fashion, this remarkable feat says it all. From reviving the culture’s love for classic pieces, such as the Adidas Sambas and the capri pants, to igniting the widespread craze around viral releases like the Ugg platform boots, Hadid has been spearheading some of the most memorable trends of the past decade or so.
But what’s really interesting about the Bella Hadid effect is that it isn’t reliant on some genius, extraordinary marketing tactic, or manufactured virality. Although she’s known for her avant-garde, envelope-pushing style, with any piece of clothing she wears, the boldness of the item is only secondary to the way she carries it. This is what makes her style so aspirational and accessible at the same time.
With the power to make just about any piece of clothing look ‘cool’, she provides the social proof consumers need. A clothing item doesn’t necessarily have to be particularly luxurious, unique, or trendy for it to attract hype. Once it has that Bella Hadid ‘personality’ and ‘vibe’ attached to it, it instantly becomes the next big thing that customers flock to. This factor is exactly what won her that ‘power dresser’ title.
By cultivating a recognizable style identity that actively pushes the boundaries of fashion while staying relatable, Bella Hadid has created an aesthetic that fashion consumers strive to emulate.
When it comes to fostering an enticing style identity, the way Bella Hadid does, there’s one notable fashion and lifestyle brand that has perfected this strategy – Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS.
Established in 2019 as a digital-first shapewear company, this emerging brand has grown into a multi-billion-dollar empire, expanding into various clothing and lifestyle categories and, as per a report from Tracxn, ranking 2nd among its 152 active competitors. Although SKIMS owes some of its rapid ascent to its co-founder, whose star status automatically put the brand on the map since its inception, the cultural relevance it has achieved is a result of something else entirely. Instead of solely relying on the big name it is attached to, SKIMS established its place in the lifestyle industry by cultivating a strong brand presence and distinct identity. This is no mean feat, especially for a brand whose aesthetic leans more toward minimalistic designs and silhouettes.
So how did SKIMS’ marketing team manage to create an identifiable brand presence around solid colors and monochromatic fits? The answer lies in their powerful influencer marketing strategy.
Minimalism is in, and SKIMS is at the forefront of this shift.
In our current fashion landscape, influencers are the ultimate generators of social proof. In the same way that Bella Hadid’s street style influences users to flood search engines with certain terms, social media tastemakers are actively steering the conversation around taste, defining what is ‘chic’ or ‘cool’ and what isn’t. This gives brands the perfect opportunity to use influencer marketing to insert their distinct style identity in the fashion zeitgeist.
As an influencer herself, SKIMS’ co-founder, Kim Kardashian, is all too familiar with the power of social media. These digital spaces are where the culture around fashion and lifestyle takes shape, and SKIMS set out to leverage this power from the outset.
Instead of using social media as a mere promotional channel, the team took it a step further by using it to cultivate a cultural narrative in which the brand can take center stage. Rather than adjusting their aesthetic to fit the existing mold, SKIMS uses influencers to carve out a space for their brand’s visual identity to shine.
Every business aims to scale, but scaling often comes with a cost. The moves you have to make to grow your presence with a wider audience will require compromises. So how do you scale without diluting your brand?
Rather than adjusting its identity and marketing content to cater to a broad, diverse viewership, SKIMS scaled by enhancing its target and brand narrative instead. A stronger message, a more efficient targeting strategy, and a consistent image all make up the formula that transformed SKIMS into the retail empire it is today.
As the brand sought to establish a strong, recognizable visual identity, the team never lets this distinctiveness go to waste by aimlessly pivoting and adjusting their visual style according to seasonal trends. Instead, the brand’s influencer campaigns consistently maintain this identifiable personality year-round.
Although the brand prides itself on representing a diverse range of body types, age groups, and ethnic backgrounds (as aptly reflected by their influencer roster), there’s a subliminal consistency to all their influencer marketing output.
The diverse characters within the brand’s roster are tied together by a uniform vibe; this identifiable ‘SKIMS vibe’ is what attracts users and invites them to join in.
Across all social media platforms and geographic locations, through each seasonal drop, every influencer’s content endorsing the brand remains ‘identifiably SKIMS’.
From mob wife to clean girl to whimsy goth, the online fashion scene is packed with niche communities built around various micro-aesthetics. These niche aesthetic communities provide a space for users with similar styles and visual preferences to connect and share their recommendations and styling tips. Leveraging the growth of hyper-specific style subcultures, SKIMS has tapped into style communities that align with its brand aesthetic.
For instance, niche aesthetic communities such as the clean girl, soft luxury, and the off-duty model aesthetics, which frames minimalism and the ‘effortless chic’ look as the ultimate signal of luxury and taste, present the perfect spot for SKIMS to establish brand relevance.
By communicating its message through fashion influencers and style icons within these niche style communities, the brand ensures their marketing efforts reach audiences who can appreciate the brand's aesthetics. It is through these communities that SKIMS has cultivated a strong brand presence and loyal following, consistent with its brand image.
To examine the brand’s commitment to its established positioning, we can also look at its collaboration history with megastars.
Back in 2020, SKIMS launched its velour tracksuit collection during the height of the Y2K comeback craze. This launch was delivered through a collaboration with none other than the Y2K icon herself – Paris Hilton.
This campaign perfectly married the heiress and style icon’s signature velour look with SKIMS’ neutral monochromatic color palette, delivering a viral sensation that perfectly captures the spirit of the moment.
This foresight and intentionality are reflected in the brand’s partnership choices throughout its history. Its latest collaboration featuring Hailey Bieber is no different.
Widely recognized as the poster girl of the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic, Bieber is one of the most influential tastemakers of our current fashion scene, especially when it comes to the brand’s primary target – the minimalist, effortless luxury vibe.
Rather than launching collaborations for the sake of generating hype with the biggest names, SKIMS strategically chooses influencer partnerships that make sense for the brand’s image and specific target.
As we look into the strategy driving SKIMS’ influencer marketing efforts, one thing becomes very clear: the brand knows its audience and knows exactly how to communicate to them.
Hard-selling to convince users to buy your products no longer works in our current fashion landscape. Knowing this, the brand markets a ‘vibe’ and ‘mood’ that consumers aspire to emulate. This strategy is powered by an identifiable, consistent aesthetic flowing throughout their marketing content.
However, this discovery raises another question: How does SKIMS maintain this visual consistency in all its influencer marketing content?
Adhering to your desired vibe and visual direction in your brand’s original content is one thing, but maintaining this consistency with your influencer content can be extremely tricky. With a diverse selection of creators in your influencer roster, each with their own content style and preferred platform, how do brands ensure visual coherence across their campaign assets? While brands can specify the visual direction and guidelines in their creative briefs, there’s no guarantee that every creator will meet those guidelines.
For a brand like SKIMS, whose marketing strategy is driven by a powerful UGC-first approach, a meticulous content-tracking and monitoring system is non-negotiable.
Rather than relying on guesswork or manual tracking, brands like SKIMS use data and centralized content-tracking platforms to keep a close eye on all their content output. This system not only prevents brand drift but also informs the marketing team on what works and what doesn’t.
To illustrate, let’s take a look at these SKIMS’ creator-generated content:
These are two content pieces shared on separate platforms, featuring SKIMS’ products from different collections, styled differently, and presenting a contrasting silhouette. Despite these many variations, these two assets don’t look all that dissimilar or clashing. The bridge linking them together? The ‘mood’ and ‘vibe’ that remain identifiably SKIMS.
By monitoring every output across all platforms, leading brands avoid off-brand content and ensure creators stay faithful to their message and visual identity.
If you’re looking to strengthen your brand identity across social media the SKIMS way, Influencity is here to help.
Strategic campaign planning and visualization can only achieve so much if you don’t have the tools to monitor their execution. End-to-end influencer marketing platforms like Influencity give you the tools to optimize your influencer marketing efforts from start to finish. From data-backed predictions to smart influencer discovery tools to campaign tracking and monitoring systems, these platforms help you ideate and execute influencer campaigns that convert.
To maintain a consistent brand identity across all your influencer marketing assets, you can use Influencity’s content-tracking tool to:
Monitor cross-channel campaigns through a centralized content library – Influencity’s ‘content library’ aggregates every content generated by your brand across all social media platforms, enabling you to track and organize your marketing assets in one place.
The fashion landscape is a dynamic world of ever-changing trends and conversations that are shifting every day. Every fashion brand has to move along with these shifts one way or another. However, aimless trend-chasing without a clearly defined brand positioning and established identity can be disastrous for your business. Rather than haphazardly aiming to get in on every internet hype, identify where your brand stands, who your target audience is, and leverage trends in a way that makes sense for your brand.
Skims’ influencer marketing playbook is a masterclass in generating cultural relevance, and making use of trends without diluting your brand identity.
SKIMS influencer marketing strategy relies on a strong, unyielding brand identity that is reflected throughout their influencer marketing content.
SKIMS gained cultural relevance through a soft sell strategy where influencers cultivated an alluring vibe around the brand’s aesthetic.
Since your influencer marketing content shapes how users see your brand, vetting creators on brand alignment ensures every influencer on your roster stays faithful to your brand’s identity.
Brands can closely monitor and track every campaign output to prevent off-brand content and ensure visual harmony.
By providing a centralized hub for tracking all your influencer marketing content, influencer marketing platforms help brands ensure their messaging and visual identity remain consistent across all marketing channel.