Fashion's Popularity Contest

The pursuit of celebrity and online attention is giving the industry an identity crisis

- Asri Jasman

OBSESSING with numbers is implicit in any business. But since the advent of social media, it has expanded to include the number of followers seemingly ordinary individuals manage to garner.

While most have grown their following organically and become celebrities in their own right, there are those that achieve the same by being born into the right family. It’s not arguably nepotism in the purest sense but a matter of circumstance, since society has always had a fascination with the rich, the famous and the rich and famous. That naturally trickles down to the next of kin.

In fashion, using connections to get a foot in the door is not unheard of. The new era of ‘it’ models like Presley gerber and Kendall Jenner may unwittingly be the poster children for getting high-profile jobs because of famous parents, enjoying opportunities they are unlikely to get if they were just ordinary kids.