The impact of Instagram influencers throughout the past few years cannot be ignored. These girls have been giving models a run for their money on the popular app, and now they're doing the same on the runway.
Designers have taken notice of these girls' popularity and have moved from simply giving them products to feature on their feeds, to paying them to post photos in their brand's products, to now featuring them in their runway shows.
Kendall Jenner is one of the most well known Instagram influencers, although she has arguably earned her spot in the industry as a fashion model after securing a spot on the coveted Vogue September Issue. However, Jenner's influencer friends have not made modeling a career (yet, anyway), but were still featured on runways this season, including on Bottega Veneta.
Gigi Hadid has had no formal catwalk training, but is now a fashion mogul, designing a line each season with Tommy Hilfiger, TOMMY X GIGI. Hadid now walks in all the big name shows, usually alongside her sister Bella. The sisters have grown extreme Instagram followings, and although neither have gone through the extensive cutthroat training that usually comes along with being models, shows now seem almost irrelevant without them.
So what's new?
This season, influencers including Jenner, both Hadids, Hailey Baldwin, Kaia Gerber, Olivia Culpo and more were seen walking the runways as opposed to strutting street style looks outside shows. Could this be the way the industry will turn from now on, or will the old way of drafting unknown models reign supreme?