MITCHELL WEBB – THE FASHION WEBB

Today we caught up with Mitchell Webb. Born and raised in London, Mitchell Webb is the founder of and writer behind the fashion & lifestyle blog, The Fashion Webb. Launched in Jan 2016, featuring a carefully curated selection of photography and thoughts on anything from fashion to food. Representing a distinct style from an unrepeatable individual and the strong belief that fashion is perceptual.

Tell us about you, your background and how you came to start on social media?

I come from a small suburban town in Essex. I studied fashion marketing at London College of Fashion and graduated in 2015. Since then I’d been developing a kind of Instagram style diary (daily outfit posts, travel features etc) and saw my audience grow quite a bit. In 2016 I decided to take advantage of my following and launch an online platform where I could make a creative space in the Internet which turned into my blog.

Tell us about what you do on your social channels? 

It’s taken quite a lot of time and re-branding to find a style that, not only fits my aesthetic, but one that I am genuinely passionate about. I love to create visual narratives around my brand collaborations. I find it really disengaging and unauthentic when bloggers simply speak on, for example, their new jacket and why they ‘love it’ so much. I work hard to create a story and deeper focus behind whatever it is I’m promoting, be it the function, item or experience. It’s just more
interesting that way!

Sum up your what you do in 5 words?

Visual narratives via style and photography (sorry, I needed 6!)

What social channel are you most passionate about and why?

Instagram. It’s the fastest growing and most diverse platform. It’s my most influential space and the audience is huge which is so exciting to me, to think I can tap into just a tiny percentage of that is why I create. I also think through the peaks and troughs that most social media platforms have experienced, Instagram just seems to be going nowhere but up.

How often do you post and update your audience? What content works best for you?

I post 1-2 times a day on weekdays. I always take the weekends off, it’s kind of bitter-sweet but social media has become a job for me now so I make sure I have down-time for my sanity! My audience are naturally more active during certain times so I try and tap into that where possible. Its usually assumed most engaging content is photos of us in a semi-regular pose, centralised to the camera with a plain background, but I’m always surprised at how much engagement some of my less conformist posts get and I love that!

How do you stand out on social media? What makes you different?

I like to think my style is what makes me stand out. I don’t just mean ‘style’ in terms of what I wear, but my style of photography, feed, writing etc. My personal style is quite androgynous, I like to mix both men’s and womenswear and live firmly by the mantra “if you like it, wear it”. It still baffles me that we label clothes specifically for men or women when fashion is one of our most expressive tools, and we know very well now that those gender borders are much blurrier.

Which influencers do you admire? Why? 

@parkncube is a huge inspiration of mine. She’s just such a creative powerhouse and a real leader in the industry. I also admire @cupofcouple, I’ve such a deep appreciation for their work – they create beautiful imagery and are a great couple. I also respect the way they retain their relationships privacy given that same aspect is their USP, which is a feat in itself on social media!

How do you think brands are working with influencers at the moment?

I think more and more brands are realising the potential in influencer marketing. It’s an industry within itself now, which it never was when I started out on Instagram. It’s encouraging to see brands sponsoring content with different influencers and there are some great agencies/platforms to help us as influencers get paid for our work. However there seems to still be a huge amount of brands that don’t understand or appreciate the amount of work behind what we do. It’s not entirely their fault, our industry is still relatively new and heavily rooted in ‘gifting’, but the awareness, content creation, photography, copy, advertisement and promotions that brands receive from working with an influencer would usually cost them hundreds in other more conventional marketing techniques.

What brands have you worked with? 

2017 was probably the most exciting year for me in terms of brand work. I’ve developed relationships with some of the industry leaders such as ASOS, Hunter Boots, Jack Wills, Sloane Street and Mercure Hotels as well as some really exciting new brands like The Cords and Co, Arket and Tower London. I presented a 30 minute session at the Pure London show in June speaking on how to create engaging content. The organisers informed me my talk was the 3 rd most attended (!) which was fantastic and they’ve asked me to speak again at their February show. I also took a whistle stop trip to New York to be photographed and interviewed to be featured in an upcoming book on using influence and fashion to help homelessness, which I couldn’t be more proud of.

Do you use any tools to help you with your content? 

I use a tonne of tools to analyse and break down my content to make sure I’m aware of what’s most engaging, most liked, most commented etc. I now mainly use the Instagram in-app analytics since turning my account to a business one and also Iconsquare, which is a great service for in-depth stats.

What’s the piece of content you’ve created you’re most proud of? Why?

The work I’m most proud of up until now isn’t a piece of content, but our trip to New York for the book feature, which I covered on my blog here:
http://thefashionwebb.com/a-new- york-minute/

What do you see as the future for Influencer Marketing? How will it evolve?

I think the influencer marketing industry is at such an exciting point and evolving so fast that I couldn’t answer that but am appreciative to be along for the ride! One thing I’d love to see is more creative partnerships as opposed to sponsored content. The pieces I love the most always come from collaboration, and I hope more brands seize the opportunity to work with the tonnes of innovative influencers we have out there.

Where can people follow you? (please link your channels)

You can keep up with me on all the usual spaces:
Instagram – www.instagram.com/thefashionwebb
Facebook – www.facebook.com/thefashionwebb
Twitter – www.twitter.com/thefashionwebb
Blog – www.thefashionwebb.com