There is a young generation of cultural pioneers who will spend a lot of money on good products, according to David Fischer, founder of the streetwear-based blog and fashion brand Highsnobiety. “But they expect to get inspired, discover new talent and new palettes,” he warned the assembled brands and retailers.
Brands need to be “always on” and think constantly about their relationship with their consumers, because “They aren’t consumers – they’re an audience”.
Fischer says he understands this audience instinctively, thanks to his blog. He studied economics, but had a passion for fashion, so in 2005, set up Highsnobiety “to share all the cool discoveries that I came across”.
With the explosion of social media, his “little pockets of enthusiasts” could find his platform faster. The Berlin-based company now has 500 million impressions every month and 6.5 million unique visitors. Fischer has expanded its reach, covering trends and news in art, music and culture as well as fashion. Highsnobiety now has more than 100 employees, with offices in New York and London.
His user numbers helped Fischer “to get to know people behind the brands”, who became loyal readers. His union of passion and expertise, according to Fischer, had a snowball effect as Highsnobiety’s reputation grew and the careers of his industry readers expanded. “When they took decisions about their brand, they knew I understood this generation,” he explained.
The company has worked with Nike, Xbox, Puma and Netflix – with Highsnobiety creating a line of Stranger Things luxury clothing. “TV merchandise has evolved from a niche culture into covetable streetwear,” he said.
The company launched an online e-commerce store in May 2019: “Inspiration drives purchase, so the gap between what we were doing, and selling things, was quite small.” At the same time, it collaborated on a relaunch of Linea Rossa, Prada’s 1990s sportswear line – and debuted a Highsnobiety collab with Japanese clothing brand A Bathing Ape, which sold out in 90 minutes.
“Lots of brands live in a bubble,” he said. “They believe they have a connection, but our audience has no connection with the likes of Tommy Hilfiger. It’s our job to reintroduce these sorts of brands. We wanted to give this audience context around products – and frankly, nobody else is doing it.”
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
