I have a confession to make... I'm so jealous of successful bloggers!
I mean, how do you do it? How do you go from starting a little blog with your own thoughts and rants on the current state of fashion, and end up being paid to travel the world and review the most exciting shows and exhibitions, whilst being sent loads of beautiful free things along the way?
Liberty London Girl is one blogger who's got the idea down. She moved from London to New York after a stint at Conde Nast a couple of years ago, and although she's moved back to the Mother Land since then, she's never looked back.
Now she makes her money seeing and wearing all the prettiest things in the world. Jealous much? You should be.
Meet Liberty London Girl, AKA Sasha Wilkins — one of the smartest, loveliest, most stylish girls on the fashion blogosphere.
Zac: Tell us about your work with Conde Nast in the UK?
LLG: I started out as a glorified coffee fetcher/second assistant to the Editorial Director at British Conde Nast. After that I moved to Conde Nast Traveller, where I spent time in editorial and in art, and ended up as bookings editor, whilst also contributing as a stylist and writer.
What was your experience of working there?
Fresh out of university, it was like entering a different world. Conde Nast Publications UK like people to start out as assistants and work their way up, so it’s a very supportive atmosphere in which to start a career. It is not at all like The Devil Wears Prada – or The September Issue, come to that.
Why did you leave and decide to move to the US?
I wanted to become a full time writer, and staff positions in the UK are very unusual for full time writers – mostly copy is commissioned from freelancers, so I knew I had to leave. After CNP, I became a fashion news reporter for one of the very first online fashion news resources, FashionWireDaily.com – so you could say that my career has come full circle.
I also did a lot of fashion editing for retail contract publishing companies, where I really cut my teeth as a stylist. After that I was editor in chief of a short lived interiors & design magazine, and then in 05/06, I helped launch the UK’s first perfect bound colour supplement for a newspaper: O: by Tank for The Observer, as executive fashion and beauty editor.
Then one day I just decided I had had enough of the UK, and moved to the US. It was as simple – and as quick as that. I still had lots of freelance commercial styling work back in the UK, so I based myself in the US but flew back for money jobs.
What made you start your blog?
I never had a plan for Liberty London Girl. I launched it in 2006 after moving to Manhattan. My friends were excited about my being an Englishwoman in New York, so I started updating them on what I was getting up to. That’s why LLG has never been a straight fashion blog. It’s always roamed about the things in which I am interested, from the lunch I cooked today to the new shoes I bought, via an exhibition I may have visited, and a designer I met for work.
What did you want to do with it that you couldn't do via magazines?
Use my own voice to write what I wanted, when I wanted, with no outside direction or involvement. It’s as simple as that.
Do you think there's a lack of the critical in fashion journalism today?
Hmm…most good fashion criticism is not the province of the glossies – it’s always been in newspapers, and I don’t see that Robin Givhan, Cathy Horyn, Sarah Mower, Suzy or any of their peers are any less critical these days. Sometimes, I think even more so. And I still enjoy the kind of in-depth research and reporting that good fashion features editors do when they interview and profile designers in magazines.
And then, of course, there is the whole question of journalism online. Just because you write online, doesn’t make you a journalist. But if you are applying critical thinking, sound judgment, a balanced viewpoint, historical reference points, and an informed worldview then your view is a valid as the next print journalist. I would hold up a phenomenal critic like Alex Fury at SHOWStudio as the perfect example of the new wave of online fashion critics, whose career wouldn’t have been possible without the online space.
Do you think your blog allows you to be more honest and opinionated, since you don't have to worry about advertisers?
Oh for sure. I certainly don’t hold back if I have something to say, and that goes for Twitter too.
What do you think your blog offers that's unique?
A point of view. I don’t ever regurgitate press releases. And because I started blogging over five years ago, the current blogging orthodoxy of finding a niche to write about didn’t apply to me back then – I was free to write about whatever I please, and was lucky enough to find an engaged constituency that keeps on growing.
How long did it take for you to gain a strong following?
In 2007, I started blogging daily from the beginning of March. After four months there were still days when I got just 20 page impressions, & five visitors. After eight months of daily blogging, there were still days when I only had 60 page impressions, most of which were from Google, not from readers. I got a little press from Grazia at the end of the year, and appeared on a few best of lists, and it just started to grow. I took a year off in 2008 to launch The Wall Street Journal’s WSJ magazine as executive style editor and, when I returned to blogging in 2009 the online world had changed, blogging was now in the worldview, and LLG benefitted enormously from that. It’s been a rollercoaster ride ever since.
What would your advice to other young bloggers hoping to be in your position be?
The thing that propelled me forward from diarist to career-blogger was being part of the blogging community. I’m still fast friends with the tiny band of neophyte bloggers I met on line in 07 – and we are all successful bloggers now, who support & encourage each other. Leave comment, reach out, and make online friends… growing your blog organically is the only way to do it successfully & credibly. I get a mountain of mail from bloggers complaining that they have no traffic, but it takes time to grow. Bloggers who achieve stratospheric success in a year like Chiara Ferrigni are the exception not the rule – that’s why we’ve all heard of her.
Have you had any negative response since revealing your identity last year?
God I was terrified! I thought people might be disappointed to discover that it was me, that they would stop reading, but I haven’t had negative response at all. Thank goodness.
What opportunities have you been afforded entirely because of your blog (now that people know who you are)?
I was already a journalist, stylist & editor, so attending the shows, & travelling for work was something I had done for years. But fronting an ad campaign for a brand? That was something I never in a million years expected to be doing. I modeled for Hunter boots AW11 campaign, and just shot a story for Diesel’s SS12 collection. And because of the blog I now own and run my own business – the blog & a digital media consultancy, which also involves me speaking at conferences worldwide on trends and digital.
How has being under the Vogue bloggers umbrella helped you? Has it changed much?
It was lovely to be recognized, especially as an alumna of Vogue House, but I don’t think it makes any material difference whatsoever. It certainly doesn’t drive any traffic.
Do you have interns?
Not as such. I have paid assistants, who do what interns do on other publications, plus a whole lot more. I feel morally grubby if I ask people to do things for me that contribute to the success of my business without paying them. It means I have less help than I need, as I can’t quite justify a full time assistant yet, but it means that I do have loyal, efficient staff who turn up on time, work hard and contribute properly. At LFW I have a team of three, two of whom who are paid the standard freelancer’s day rate + all their expenses, and one who is a 19yr old student at LCF and who gets a daily stipend, travel, all expenses and tickets to the shows. My girls are wonderful.
What do you hope to offer them?
Anyone working for me learns how the fashion & digital world operates because they work absolutely side by side with me. They don’t do anything that I don’t do myself. Unlike on most publications where they generally sit in cupboards counting hangers. By the time they leave, they should know how the technical back end of a blog operates, how to attend shows & press appointments, plus all the day to day admin that comes with running a business in the fashion & lifestyle industry. Oh and a storming contacts book. I am absolutely thrilled that my current paid assistant Katie Rose, who has worked with me for a year, has just been offered a spectacular job working for one of London’s best fashion entrepreneurs, partly because of the reference I wrote her. Sad as I am to lose her, that for me is the point of having interns and assistants. Train ‘em up and watch them go on to better things.
What positions have you been working in over the last couple of years? Are you able to sustain yourself financially with your blog, or is your blog more of a passion project?
LLG has been my full-time project since January 2009, when I gave up my apartment to cut overheads and lived on ramen, friends’ floors and good wishes. It started being fiscally viable during towards the end of 2010, when I launched LLG Media, my umbrella company and that is now a fully-functioning commercial business. It covers the blog, which does not make money itself – it covers its costs, barely, LLG Consults – the digital strategy business; and everything that my brilliant agent at talent agency Curtis Brown looks after for me – ad campaigns, public speaking at home & abroad, brand collaborations, events etc.
What's your tip from the top?
Be kind. No one ever forgets a cast iron bitch.
Five favourite places?
My bed. New York, London, the Central Coast of California & Hampstead Heath.
Most interesting person you've met through your job? Glenda Bailey.
Must-have for SS12?
A 20s dress.
Favourite blog other than LLG?
Oh it changes every day. I do like the Tumblr Clients from Hell. All too familiar.
zacbayly.blogspot.com