Fashion should be about expressing an individual preference and style, not about attracting potential romantic partners. At least that’s the philosophy of the Man Repeller blog, a site whose mission is to review, discuss, and share fashion and related topics that women enjoy and that many men simply cannot stand to hear about.
Man Repeller started as a funny and personal blog, but its popularity—including 1.4 million followers on Instagram and 360,000 on Twitter, as well as approximately 1 million daily visits to the blog site—has transformed the joke into a force to be reckoned with in the fashion world. Rather than depending on the dictates of fashion editors and designers, consumers increasingly turn to bloggers, seemingly regular people who can put together an outfit and have an eye for color. In turn, H&M works with Man Repeller not only to encourage promotions on that blog but also to identify other influential voices that might want to link with H&M as well.
Functioning in a mentor role, the blogger behind Man Repeller, Leandra Medine, will provide expert insights on a contest on the Bloglovin blog network that looks to find the best fashion blogger available. Each entrant into the contest has to post some of her previous work, as well as create a new outfit for others to critique. The outfit must contain at least one H&M piece, reflecting the retailer’s sponsorship of the contest.
The winner of the contest will be named the “Breakthrough Fashion Blogger of the Year,” and the benefits for this blogger come mostly in the form of increased exposure, as well as suggestions from Medine as a mentor. For H&M, its participation in the contest also gives it access to a whole range of fashion bloggers, whom it considers “instrumental to everything we do. We admire their passion and love that they showcase how H&M products can work for anyone and everyone.”
Discussion Questions:
- What is Man Repeller?
- Why has H&M teamed up with Man Repeller?
- Taking a big picture perspective, how are blogs like Man Repeller changing the way fashions are communicated to customers?
Source: Bethany Biron, Glossy, May 10, 2016